A Poem on Domestic Violence by Umamah Farooq (17, Pakistan)

​[Trigger warning: domestic violence/abuse]

​My friend told me that 
she married a man who yelled
and when his rage became 
a fist against her bruised eye 
I know she weighed him 
on a scale with her father 
on the other side.

---

I do not agree with her when 
she says that men are like 
coins with the same sides
but you cannot tell this to a woman
who ended up with two 
people who were soft and warm
on the outside but unleashed
the demons in their bellies
on their wives when they 
failed to comply;
I can see the scars on her neck
where patience ties the noose
and squeezes too hard
and I cannot tell my friend to 
pack her bags and leave 
when her mother spent 35 years
trying to love a man even if it 
meant being a puppet and a 
punching bag;
anything to let him subside
so the kids won't have to be on
the wrong side of a commitment
they never did sign. 
So I'll stay silent and stick by 
my friend's side, stop pointing 
out the wrongs and rights,
help hide the bruises before
her sons can have their first 
full glance of abuse and let
the kids stay the night when
their father lets the monster 
out in the house at night.

​