Dry-Fire

A difficult place for a woman to be.

She sits, emotionally bland,
Speaking mechanically;
Her right jaw, slightly misaligned,
From calcifications of former fractures;
And he is left-handed.
Lime-green circles about her
Distant, blue eyes indicate
That she has pleased him
This past week.
She believes that she
Is Improving, is better;
As the distance between
The necessary corrections
Is elongating, and she doesn’t
Nap as often.
He seems to love her more;
And frequently resorts
To audible amendments,
Or is too fatigued, himself,
To properly intervene
In her enlightenment.

She inhales, fidgets, re-adjusts,
To breathe without pain;
Calmly expressing accolades for
The strength, perseverance,
Of her son who doesn’t fail;
But weeps, in anonymity,
For her daughter who must
Have inherited her propensity
Toward weakness, malfunction.
Perhaps, over time,
He will see fit to guide
Their daughter with
Identical acts of love;
And she will be well.

She stares out the window,
Toward the windswept willow;
Catatonic, citing that
Past years, learning years,
Were resonating like the
Dry-fire echo of the
Empty Chamber in a game
Of Russian-Roulette.
The sound, repeated and
Sustained in dull memory;
The clicks that fed
The ugly tomorrows;
But her eyes sparkle as
She admits to a yearning,
For the strike of the pin
To fresh primer;
And she may only regret
That she will not hear
The Sound
Heralding her freedom.

Author's Note

Copyright 2010, Fegger

Reviews

[LadyNaida]

There is a sense of sadness and pain, and also for a longing that things might of been different had she taken another path.

[Chloe..Across the Unive..]

This shows so poetically the strife and heartache of abuse. How it is passed from mother to daughter, father to son.. beautiful descriptions ..

Chloe

[SM Davis]

Incredible!!! I am very impressed with the creativity of this piece that stopped nothing short of causing me to re-read this piece in awe. 1000 daisies at her feet, and 100 points to this amazing write.

[Jazique]

Sad as to never hear the bells of freedom fro who ever they may be some never make it out of one the worst battle fields of all known. Nicely done.

[EmpressPoetess]

I am an abuse survivor. I know this story well. Outstanding and very powerfully done.

[Geralyn Miller]

This grabs you bythe heart , then smacks you between the eyes. In my past, I saw too many women who never made it out until they aarived via ambulance in the ER where I worked. I have seen the x-rays with layers of fractures in various states of healing; struggled to find skin to stitch together on faces so battered they were a mesh of scars and healing wounds. I have held the hands of too many women as their life ebbed out from hopeless injuries inflicted by the men who were supposed to love them. I applaud every woman who finally takes up a weapon and using it to rid herself of the source of her pain and injury.

[Andrew Wright]

So powerful... What else can truly be said?

[JulieNorell]

Very powerful write...I like it...Keep it up!!!!!

[Siddartha Beth Pierce]

A powerful message clearly delineated and delivered. Well done!
Light,
Siddartha

[HorrorMaster]

really good and powerful