Would You Like Some Tea?

I was young

Every day came out the sun

Smiling I breathed

I felt I was free

At the age fourteen

I was married off to a man

Too much I didn’t understand

Rules were given

Walls were closing in

My tears were shed

Mind racing for an opening

I clenched my fist

Life would go on

I pushed and prodded

All came tumbling down

I tried to make it better

Reaching out meant a sudden pain

This blow came too soon

I wasn’t fully on my feet

I wanted to cry

The tears had all been spent

Wondering, exploring, vanished

My mind slowed and shut down

In my heart was a tremor

I feared my protector

Would he see, hear, or sense

Everything seemed forbidden

I couldn’t keep track

I had no power to persuade

I retreated and gave up

Breathing itself became a chore

Little excites the mind

Rarely is the heart stirred

It’s less painful that way

Waking no longer had purpose

Many loved me

But only one voice I could hear

So there was a world to fear

Fear kept me from knowing the world

So I consigned my self

To something I could control

Would you like some tea?

Sugar? one spoon or two?

(A poem written when I came to feel for my friends suffering abuse)