He has the measure of her (he thinks)
and she a clay of skin and bones;
malleable; subservient.
He has no need of feet or fist
when poisoned words can bruise and break
and she malleable
is subservient.
Quiescent (she presents)
yet still within her heart a lion roars;
yet malleable she is subservient.
Moon waxes wanes.
Within the confines of her mind
lion roar morphs to that of bleating sheep;
malleable she is subservient.
Some day the sun will shine for her,
death free her from her nothingness,
until then, she is malleable subservient
Anna :o]
Shared with dVerse OLN, hosted by Anthony. Cheers Anthony!
Image: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Author: Jiri Hodan
24 comments:
He sounds rather beastly. I hope she finds her way to the sun and away from nothingness.
"He has no need of feet or fist when poisoned words can bruise and break " - I know of at least two such people. They can make others miserable.
She needs to keep that lion's roar within her heart. She may be subservient on the outside, but inside she is very strong. And, yes, one day she will be free from this nothingness!
So hard to reverse introversion, or poor self image. It can only be done through years of loving communication & trust; then like Pygmalion she will rise out of the mists of misery & soar to heights undiscovered, to depths unplumbed. I have seen this occur, was even part of the process.
I feel that someday she will reach her breaking point and become NOT a malleable subservient ~ Good one Anna ~
One day that lioness within her heart will roar out of her mouth and I think he will be most unpleasantly surprised!
ugh... that is so painful... i wish she had the courage to run away to find a life before death first..
This breaks my heart--far too common and familiar.
This made me want to cry. I hope that day comes soon for her. Sometimes we get lost in a world we thought we might never see and begin to see ourselves through someone else's eyes and not our own. Beautiful and sad.
That repetition is haunting here in this usage....it's like it robs away the hope one stanza at a time.
This one is painful to read - I've been in situations like this and no one could have believed the chatty, happy, 'roaring' person in front of them could become so subservient when the right psychological pressure was exerted.
A nice use of repetition which really drives home the points!
Moving words. I feel so angry to think there are people who can quash another person.
Very soothing, beautiful word choice.
It is not ideally a good life when dominance precedes love! But still such situations always do happen!
Hank
These type of relationships has to come to an end.. Not all abuse is physical... Being subservient doesn't help..
powerful, Anna ~
Words can bruise and break. And they can convince people that they are not capable, or good enough, or able to survive on their own.
Too many women living this way.
You deftly placed the reader in those malleable shoes of hers, and shucks-howdy, did I ever want to get out of those shoes quickly. My empathy pains for her have not yet subsided.
I read this aloud to my wife, and she winced, caught her breath, and said, "Oh, that's really good."
(Of course, I hope this is a work of fiction...)
I've seen women like that who put themselves in a box and then paint over the door so they can't find the way out.
so sad...and so true of many situations where someone is too afraid...subservient...to escape from the abuse.
Hi Anna, I commented on your poem earlier, but I just want to thank you for participating in Poetry Pantry as well! This really is strong writing!
Anna! You are crushing me with this poem. You write tragedy so well. It has it's own life. You are a brilliant writer.
Also, I don't want her to have to die to be free! How can I rescue her?
Hugs and love and stuff, dear, sweet Anna.
wow! Let's hope she learns before death. I have seen fierce young woman become lions and am very proud of their strength. May they all learn to roar.
Truly sad to be slave of love and never love alive...
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