**Warning trigger alert! Backstory: When I was in college I befriended a girl who had been abused as a child. She kept a diary of that time and let me read it. This poem is based on a passage she wrote. Very sad. If you suspect a child is being abused, don't be silent. Call for help.**

Mother hit me again today,

This time right across the face;

Her rings felt cold

Against my cheek.

~

I don't know why,

But she came home

In a fury—

An outpouring of rage.

Maybe it was something

That I did

Or she finally realized

How worthless I was.

"You're no good!"

She yelled before.

But I never thought that

Even she would believe that.

I just stood there—

Crying, shaking my head,

Trembling.

But I never thought that

Even she would believe that.

~

Until she barged in the house

Grabbed me—

Her eyes wide and red,

Her air ruined by the rain outside,

And Raised her hand in the air.

"You're no good!"
She yelled again.

Her rings flashed from

The light above,

And they felt cold against my cheek.