It Wasn't Over When You Died

 

IT WASN'T OVER WHEN YOU DIED

A poem about how child abuse can be passed on through generations:

 

It wasn't over when you died,
When I was still too young to know
The damage that you did inside,
The pain that I would undergo.

When I was still too young to know,
You did to me what things you would.
The pain that I would undergo
Came later, once I understood.

You did to me what things you would
While I lay numb and still. The hate
Came later, once I understood
The sorrow that you came to sate.

While I lay numb and still, the hate
Arose in you as love, as need.
The sorrow that you came to sate
Then passed between us in your seed.

Arose in you as love, as need
To undergo yourself in me,
Then passed between us in your seed,
Became your lasting legacy.

To undergo yourself in me,
The damage that you did inside
Became your lasting legacy.
It wasn't over when you died.

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: Journeyman. By Aakash Gandhi. Music free to use at YouTube. Illustration Credit: AI

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/itwasn.html. For more poems about child abuse, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/childabusepoems.html .

Adelaide Is Gracious to a Fault

 A name poem for Adelaide about an abused child who grows up with an exaggerated fear of conflict:

 

Adelaide is gracious to a fault,
Desiring harmony more than she does desire.
Each disagreement threatens to turn dire.
Likes and dislikes never leave the vault.
A child of war becomes adept at peace.
Intuitively she skirts the hidden mines,
Determined not to cross long-vanished lines,
Eluding rage long after rage has ceased.

 

© by Nicholas Gordon

 

Audio and Video Music: A Kiss for Amanda. By DJ Williams. Music free to use at YouTube. Photo Credit: AI.

 

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/adelai.html. For more name poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/namepoems.html .

Although Consumed by Fury, You Still Loved Us

May 8, 2021

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The theme for this week is Mother’s Day.

I welcome comments on my poems at https://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

A Mother’s Day poem to a deceased mother from her abused child:

Although consumed by fury, you still loved us.
At least that is the knowledge of my heart.
Screaming like a child, you would beat us
Until you snapped, and then the tears would start.
"You know I love you," you would cry, demanding
More of us through tears than with your fist.
And we, through tears, would nod our understanding,
Too bullied in our pain to dare resist.
Yet now that you've been dead for many years,
And I have wandered through my own vast hell,
I see the desperate anguish in your tears
And hope at last that I can love you well.
For only in my love can your love be
The love that once, I think, you had for me.

© by Nicholas Gordon

To see this poem on my site, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/altho4.html. For more Mother’s Day poems, go to https://www.poemsforfree.com/mothersdaypoems.html.

This week’s theme: Mother’s Day.
May 3: Mothers Never Mind a Little Cuddling
May 4: How Might One Find the Strength to Will One’s Fate
May 5: Mothers Are as Mothers Do
May 6: Miracles Wear Ordinary Clothes
May 7: Godmothers Aren’t Fairies in a Tale
May 8: Although Consumed by Fury, You Still Loved Us

Poem of the Week

April 7, 2011 #628

Dear Subscriber:

This week’s poem of the week is a name poem.

You can hear me read the poem and listen to the music for it at my site by going to http://www.poemsforfree.com and clicking on "Poem of the Week."

You can post a comment on the poem or read other comments on it at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Adelaide is gracious to a fault,
Desiring harmony more than desire.
Each disagreement threatens to turn dire.
Likes and dislikes never leave the vault.
A child of war becomes adept at peace.
Intuitively, she skirts the hidden mines,
Determined not to cross long-vanished lines,
Eluding rage long after her release.

© by Nicholas Gordon