We Cry Alone
Barrage of words.
Condemning.
Innocuous on the surface.
Underlying threats and accusations skitter the heart.
Then come the assaults.
As soon as weakness gets perceived.
As soon as the sniff of self-recrimination manifests.
Advantage pressed hard and callous.
Just words.
They’re just words.
Just darts of razor letters slicing the soul.
Just dismantling aggressions to crush the spirit.
Aftermath leaves nothing.
Hollow chest, hollow mind.
River eyes that bleed pain out from nothingness.
Never-ending reservoir of worthlessness the spring that feeds.
We cower to our duties.
Work hard on the stiff upper lip.
We crumble in our moments.
We cry alone, forsaken, not by the world, but ourselves.
We do cry alone.
Friends don’t see the destruction.
Family seldom grasps the immensity of abuse.
We cry alone because there’s no other way.
One day, retribution.
One day, we will rise up.
One day, strength will ooze into our veins to stand us tall.
Until then, we cry alone…