Hurt Vows

Did you see her before the vows?

No, did you?

Oh, I did.

I bet she was beautiful!?

That she was,

her beauty radiated in the church.

I’m sure she looked so happy?

Happy? No, she was full of joy,

an inner glow that no cosmetic would complement,

a gentle and yet wild exuberance,

cheerful. It oozed on everyone.

/

Did you see her after the vows?

Oh yes, she nurtured goodness in most of us,

she still does, inspiring wisdom on healthy nuptials,

she did all that and more,

loving, living and procreating,

strong woman, grounded, I envied her, I still do.

is she still all that?

I think. But he broke her,

not her spirit though, and not her will,

he still broke her,

hard.

/

Her spirit? Will?

Yes.

see, she has a mettle,

spirited, maybe because of her children,

admirable, I don’t know how she does it.

What do you mean?

Don’t you get it, before the vows and after the vows,

her values remained, I envy her.

/

But he broke her, what’s there to envy?

Her spirit. She left by the way, with her babies,

happy. I hear she is happy. Not Joyful, happy, it’s a start.

/

This is for you who have been broken in marriages, battered when you mattered, and now shattered.

This is for you who left those marriages.

This is for you who are trying to figure it all out in abusive marriages. We can and we will hold each other together, sisters, women, speaking for each other, and to each other, even when we don’t know each other.

1195 -National GBV hotline.

1190 — Counselling hotline.