I remember,
The first time you hit me.
First came the shock as your fist collided with my cheek, wet from tears.
Then came the pain,
A stinging that pulsed through my jawbone.
I remember,
The first words that fell from my lips.
"I'm sorry."
I apologized, for not being good enough.
I remember,
After you hit me,
I remember you swearing, promising to me you would never do it again.
A lie that I believed naively
like a lamb unaware of the wolf's teeth ready to puncture it's fragile heart.
I remember...
I remember...
Crying silent tears at night, while you slept
peacefully beside me.
I followed your orders, always too terrified of the knife at my back to defy you.
I was your prisoner.
You flogged me with twisted words,
And raped me with your hate.
I walked on glass for years, my feet so bloodied they went numb.
Because of you I am scared to love.
Terrified to let myself fall.
Too shaken to dare speak the truth.
Because if I told him...
He would leave.
No one loves a girl who's broken.