"FACINGFACES 2002 - 04" SELECTED POETRY

I LOVE YOU

crooked nose which meets your fist
fierce palm to cheek, a cry suppressed,
my complaint i do repress -
how can i speak?
my tongue tied in a knot of fear
the smell of sweat, cigars and beer
i dream i'm any place but here
another life...
but why should ever i complain?
i have a roof to stop the rain
and never have i hunger pangs
to make me weak
the only thing i have to do
is cook and clean and care for you,
just like i always wanted to -
a perfect wife
and just be careful what i say
and not to stumble in your way
or drop the china dinner tray
or breathe too loud
and not to speak or sound too brave
or mention when you didn't shave
or when you told me to behave
with two black eyes;
i sat that night and wondered when
your violent reign would ever end
and, for a moment, if all men
were so allowed
if modern slave and wife were one
or if the bind could be undone
or, if i could, i'd ever run,
your love despise
i almost then decided to,
to run, to shout "so long!" to you,
to let the bruises, black and blue,
fade eternally
but, a thought came creeping in -
this battle i will never win
you'll only have me back again;
you always do
so...here i sit, and here i stay,
day and night, night and day,
rehearsing words i'll never say:
"today i'm leaving"
and now i lay inside a box
under dirt and grass and rocks
and the stone above me quietly mocks
"I loved you"


Windy Sue
USA
copyright 2002