Bruising need not be visible

Slowly and quietly she turns over in bed, and moves just a little further away.

His arm, like a whip, reaches out and moves her back to the middle

Of the bed, and holds her there.

“Stay still, my dear, stay still.”

And so she lies, motionless, praying he will fall asleep

Soon. His hold tightens.

And then he is turning her, and once again the nightly torture begins.

His hands, his tongue, his very self is probed and forced upon her,

And his weight presses her to the bed, she utters a silent

Scream, and closes her eyes.

And when he is done, the talking begins.

Again. As before. And before. And before.

She is ugly, no one likes her, she has no friends, no one cares,

Her children hate her, he hates her, he has to fuck her as she is all that

Is available to him. She is stupid. She is fat. She is putrid.

She is useless. She should be dead. She is mad. She is a failure.

No man could ever want her, she has let herself go, she cannot cope.

And then, in years to come, when the court case is over, 

No-one seems to understand why she cannot see herself as

Attractive or of value.

(c) 2ndwitch, 04/12/11