Obedience

It's a simple thing. Only, the submission it takes is only shown through countless encounters with two people alone. Each day repeating slowly and without change.

Head down, stay quiet.

Drown out the voices, but do not become defiant.

Follow their words to the letter.

Hold your tongue, hide your gaze.

Soon, it will become better.

Move quickly, do not shuffle about.

Every passing day is a haze

Heeding commands without a doubt

Seizing feelings and locking them up,

And scattering them within a cell.

Truly, this life is hell.

You become ice

While they are a fire

Burning and burning

Melting you

To be molded again and again

And frozen in the night

As a sculpture of their fight.

As you continue on,

remember.

Head down, stay quiet.

Follow their words to the letter.

Hold your tongue, hide your gaze.

Move quickly, do not shuffle about.

If you are defiant

It won’t get better.

Each day is still a haze

So even if you doubt

Even if you shout

Even if you rebel

Headless of your struggles

Each day is the same.

Learn obedience and they’ll

Punish poor you no further.

Author's Note

No, this isn't something I'm going through. This is to help raise awareness on this problem.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

To me, this poem is a vivid depiction of the person who is fighting against some outer forces trying to subdue her & get her to be obedient. The whole time I was reading, there was a second narrative in the other side of my head, thinking about those who have no fight left in them anymore. This is a powerful word portrait, but I also feel it stops short of showing the entire progression . . . eventually the human mind goes limp & people follow mindlessly. It's almost more sad to me than the part where one still has some fight (as depicted in your poem). Every compelling message, like this one, invites vigorous thought (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie