Silent America
by Lexy GravesHe raises his rough hand to strike
again
She withers in her skin knowing the familiar pain
That awaits
her
His palm is like a greeting against her soft bruised flesh
His hand
mark is a permanent hello tattooed on the side of her cheek
She used to cover her face…
It
stopped working
It only made him angrier
Now, she just lets him hit
her
Over and over she silently takes his blows
It is a rhythmic motion
that she can't control
She wishes for once she could say
Stop
There is no hope
His alcohol tainted breath stains
her nostrils
His slurred speech makes her want to
Scream
He grew out
of drugs long ago
He became too
Mature
He moved onto alcohol
She
believes his brain was already dead
Long before
She has long since been abandoned
by her family and
Friends If you could call them that
All she sees every
time his hand looms across her vision is
Bleakness
What will become of her ?
She suspects she will be
forgotten
Her body will be buried in a small cemetery
And no one will
show up
Her father will be drunk
And
she will be too
With
Happiness
Lexy Graves is a member of the Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) Group at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, TX.
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
