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Broken Wing by Linda V

He holds the heart he’s broken in me

And begs for my pity as he bleeds

from the jagged shards it leaves behind

He bleeds me out and drains my resolve

Go back, go back – always

What path is left to tread?

What sky would have me now?

Go back, go back – always

The heart fears more the unknown

Than the escape of the broken butterfly

Go back, go back – forever

Wing lays shattered

No more chances to fly

But if that window opens

Perhaps one last leap of faith

Broken wing and all

Grave by Linda V

Every story reads the same

Between the lines they read her shame

That woman should have left that man

why couldn’t she just make a plan?

If it was me I know I’d leave

– Hide in secret – make believe

If it was me he wouldn’t dare

– Her bruises stark on skin so fair

If it was me I’d make him pay

– Just be sweet – no fights today

Another night so filled with rage

What else is new? Just turn the page

That woman stayed – his battered slave

And now their picking out her grave

Scalpel by Linda V

The poems bleed

Out from my pen

Dripping drama with every word

Like a surgeon’s bloody scalpel blade

Dragging its way

Through the dissection of my dreams

Or nightmares

Scars may heal

But the wounds of these words

Reopens and bleeds

Every time they are read

Poison by Linda V

I don’t exist

Except in molecules and blood cells

Life saving, not life changing

I don’t exist

To be nailed to the cross you think I will carry

I don’t exist in the memory you have

When we sat together under the sink in the cupboard

Mom snapped the shot with its blinding flash

But all I saw was the glow from the light around you

I worshiped you then

Wanted to be like you and have what you have

Long after you left my Christmas presents unopened out of sight

And now

Now as you lay dying

Even though I don’t exist

I am told to stand up for you

To lay down for you

To save you and to shut up about it

We are blood

But yours is poison

I have the light now

I know that this is one gift you can’t leave unopened

Even though

I don’t exist

Exit Sign by Linda V

You look around in wonder

How did I get here?

Hide your eyes from the glances of the others

Bitter judgement of the choices you made

In the name of love

Remember when he said forever

And you thought he meant happiness

Not the misery you lived

You think

It’s your fault

Because you couldn’t fix the myriad of pain he felt

He caused you

But your shame goes well

With your hospital gown

Falls open at the back but only exposes the blackness

Of his soul

You wonder if that sign above that door that reads Exit

Really is

Or is it just the doorway back to Hell?

Once you were strong

Once you believed in yourself

You look around in wonder

Where is she now?

Addiction by Linda V

She is the moment that I long for

She is lurking in my brain

She is a way to stop the raging

And a way to ease my pain

She is waiting in the shadows

She is just beyond my sight

In the corner of my eye

She is blocking out the light

I am longing for her chill

I am longing to be had

She crawls within my veins

She creeps within my sad

She promises the moon

But she will drop me from the stars

She uses me like yesterday

And my soul will bear the scars

We share this dark sweet moment

When I cannot say no

I know that she will kill me

And yet I can’t let go

With her I can feel safe

Though she spikes my veins with sorrow

I couldn’t live without her

But I may not have tomorrow