You'd Never Think

This is for all the strong women who have gotten out of these horrible situations. Happy Mothers Day to you all!!!

You'd never think the woman
that laughed and smiled at work
would be the one hiding a painful secret
not necessary having to wear long sleeves
to cover up anything
but always having to laugh
to keep from crying

You'd never think a woman
as smart and courage's as she
would have to go through abuse
one time he physically hit her...
she broke a broom across his back,
then the verbal abuse sunk in...
she believed every word he called her,
she felt life had no meaning
but she had three kids to take care of

Nobody knew that we lived in a hotel,
nobody knew that me and my brothers were only allowed
one piece of chicken out of a pack of fourteen,
nobody knew... and it seemed like nobody cared

Someone cared... my grandma,
she helped my mom get through it
because she went through it herself...
she helped her realize that no man
is worth the stress he gave her


You'd never think a woman like her
would have to live through so much hell!
So don't underestimate a smile,
because they could be hiding
something underneath,
that's a lot more painful....

Author's Note

I think abuse is horrible and I commend every woman who stands up to it and walk away. You women and men are amazing. Happy Mothers Day. :)

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A powerful poem. Woman and children need safe houses. Today most are ran by churches and donations. USA government no money for the real wealth of American."The children." Your poem is common for people in every city. Big business own the USA. Need wiser leaders with goals of peace and to heal the wounds of the bad times. A excellent poem.
Coyote

[Anicca]

This is wonderfully powerful. Thanks for sharing.

[*[[ Cadence ]]*]

excellent! one of my favs so far. very powerful poem.

[Chloe]

This woman is extremely strong and worth every ounce of love in this world. To sacrifice the tears for a smile is one of the most powerful things anyone can do. I hope that she found solace in the help offered and that her life begins to turn around for the better.

[light and ashes]

Simply love it!!!!!!!!!!!
So true, you do not know what people go through.
You do not know, so do not assume that you do.
Like my mother and father have always told me "assuming makes an a*s out of you and me."
I love the amount of truth and strength in this poem. Anyone who has ever been through anything hard can relate to this.
Amazing write!

[A.G Franke]

Men who are abussive like that are horrible, it's infritrateds me. I also sulute the women who stand up for themself! I like you poem to btw! =) I has a good message and a stong point! Some people are very good at hiding the truth and have a hard home life. goodwork! =)

[Hello, Goodbye]

appreciate the candor and the open message of real world situations.. the pain is real and its worth revealing.. job done well, here..

[.]

this is emotional but with an eloquence of dignity ..no one should be treated such a way..and I commend you for writing this today..

[Lizy Coale]

this is powerful, i love it.
just a few things; courage's should be courageous, and at the very end, if you re-wrote "because they could be hiding / something underneath / that's a lot more painful" to "because something could / be hiding underneath / that's a lot more painful" it would evoke a more haunting emotion.

[InnerSpirit]

I am lost in your words.

Been here, Done that... Repeatedly.

As I refuse to be happy within, even now, I pretend I am... strangely it seems I refuse to believe there is such a thing. Even when I should be.

Thank you.

Happy Mothers Day to you, also.

[patricia]

This was good, not only cathartic for the writer, but a message to raise awareness...There are strong women who get out of these situations, only to repeat the pattern with some one new, I firmly believe this is a syndrome and that therapy or self help groups are one of the remedies.