OCTOBER IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH

RECOILING IN FEAR

The children

Recoil in fear

Hearing their mother

Scream, STOP!!!

But the terror

Continues,

So much pain

Is felt

Silently

The children

 Cry.

Peering out

From around

The corner

They see their mother

Thrown hard

To the floor,

A fist rose

With words that

Hurt, they

Cover their ears.

Running.

They open

The closet

Hiding quickly inside,

The routine they

Know all too well,

The look

They saw

In the eyes

Of the monster

Who beat her

Piercing eyes

So much hate

They could see.

Clinging tightly

To each other

Much fear do

They have

Praying to God

To keep their

Mother safe,

To protect them

To make the

Monster disappear.

Domestic Violence affects so many little children.  They grow up in this atmosphere and sometimes become abusers themselves.  We must help end the cycle of abuse that tears families apart, sends them into a spiral of emotions.  They may not be able to use their voices; they need us to help them escape the abuse.  No parent would want their child to experience abuse of any kind.  The parent themselves are afraid to leave an abuser, often because he/she has said I will kill you and the children if you ever leave.  But we can’t let them live in the torture, the fear they have everyday of their lives.  The children suffer so many emotional traumas, and it will show in their school work, they may become bullies themselves.

We need to be vigilant.   If you hear or see something that doesn't feel right

please don’t be afraid to pick up that phone and dial 911. If it is nothing, when the police go and investigate, that’s great.  But if they do go and someone is hurt, then you just may have saved a life.

Mary Graziano ©

October 5, 2013