All Because

By: Tenna Perry

Flashing blades that won’t cut
Silent guns that won’t fire
Screams that never are heard
Arms that can’t take flight
Feet that turn to stone
All because of a fear that is known

Eyes that have wept
Rivers of bitter tears
Lungs gasping for air
Gagging on the soured smell
Of booze and vomit
Mixed with stale smoke
Leftovers of a bar room’s filth
All because of a perversion that is real

A child that has lost
All trust in life
No Mother or Father
To protect
No God to intervene
There is no one who cares
Teachers refuse to look
Neighbors won’t get involved
All because of secrets nobody will tell

Demon filled nights
Of monsters and blood
Exhausted days
Grades that have dropped
All concentration lost
Focusing only on surviving
From setting to rising sun
All because of the evil that walks

A hated life
Full of guilt
Shameful acts
And someone’s “game.”
Neither peace nor privacy
Or blessed solitude
Hopes of death unfulfilled
All because it’s an unpardonable sin

Day by day time passes
Until the child is grown
But the past is not forgotten
And nothing will wash her pure
White dress and long veil
Are just cruel reminders
Of the innocent blood that was shed
Down two gangly, childish legs
Staining sheets thrown away
All because she lacked someone to say no

Torn flesh has healed
Bruises disappeared
The ropes have since rotted
As have the wrong doers
Turning from corpse to dust
Dust to ashes
Each in their beds
Showing no remorse
All because of keeping the family peace

At night the blades still won’t cut
The gun refuses to fire
But I’ll be damned
If this voice will now remain quiet
As my fingers are now my wings
Distancing me from the past
They also tell my story
All because my children deserve better