Ladies if he isolates you from your friends
And restricts your social life
And is jealous of you over everything
Don’t complicate it by becoming his wife

These are the signs of an abuser
If you’re wise, this you won’t ignore
Abusers come in all kinds, male or female
Unknown or famous and rich or poor

Abusers use jealousy as a major motivation
They see you as property for which they’ve staked a claim
And then when they can’t control themselves and they hurt you
They convince you it’s your fault and that you are to blame

Abusers don’t want you to spend time with other people
They want to control what you see, say, or do
Their happiness comes from controlling others
Abuse intensifies when they can no longer control you

So watch out for the signs of abuse
They are as clear as night and day
If you get involved you may lose more than your identity
Some with their very lives have had to pay

Guys don’t you see that girls are human?
Don’t you feel guilty when you break her heart?
Don’t you know that the best way to stop abuse
Is to get help so that you never even start?

©2009, Barbara S. Talley- www.ThePoetSpeaks.com

When the violence comes from someone you are intimate with
There’s less of a stigma; it’s called domestic or dating violence
And the cycle is passed on from generation to generation
Because of society’s apathy, victims continue to suffer in silence

On the news the other night they reported
How a man kept his wife in a cage
Because she had threatened to leave him
Now where is the public outrage?

In fact there was more coverage, indignation, and anger
When we found some animals had been mistreated at the zoo
Is that why there are three times more animal shelters
Than there are shelters for battered women and children to go to?

Much of domestic violence is done at home in privacy
Women and children are abused where others can’t see
And even when reported they rarely get maximum sentences
What does that say about society’s values and priorities?

Many times women can’t leave because they can’t afford to
And they are afraid for their lives and of losing their kids
When they seek solace they are counseled to save the marriage;
Some convince the women to just pray and forgive what he did

But forgiveness from the victim doesn’t make abusers stop
And the exposure only fuels their anger and rage
And the abuse gets more and more brutal
Blind eyes and ears have already set the stage

If he defames you and hurts you
And takes advantage of you; he’s a user
Don’t confuse it with love because he says he’s sorry
Any man who hurts you is nothing but an abuser

If you see someone in trouble offer a shoulder, resources, or an ear
And call the police if its screaming sounds that you hear
Even though you don’t want to get involved, the facts are clear
And that is people die when others remain silent because of fear

We are a violent society and it just doesn’t make sense
To condone it in the home is ignoring domestic violence
You know it’s wrong; you’re not that slow or that dense
You’ve got to do what you can to stop domestic violence!

©2009, Barbara S. Talley- www.ThePoetSpeaks.com

We call it child abuse
When an adult strikes a child.
“Spare the rod and spoil them,” says the abuser
As he/she justifies violence with a quote and a smile.

But the rod in the quote was used as a guide
Never did the shephard use it to whack or beat the sheep
Spare the guidance and you’ll spoil the child was the true message
Beating powerless children into submission is for cowards  and creeps

And contradictingly we teach them to turn the other cheek
While our own actions teach that the powerful can use violence
And instead of educating them to work out their differences
We habitually use force to make the weak to comply in silence

And what happens when they get too big to be beat?
What have we taught them about handling disagreements in life?
How do you think they will relate to their children?
And their friends or enemies or husband or wife?

Violence continues because society secretly sanctions it
Saying, “We were all spanked and we turned out just fine.”
“Anyway, spanking is essential to their development,” they say.
“How else can you get kids to behave and mind?”

When your child abuses another child, it’s minimized
Because you simply refuse to see your own child as a bully.
He’ll grow out of it and you brush it off with, “Boys will be boys!”
Naïve or do you really not understand the implications fully?

“No child should be labeled as violent,” some say.
Many were abused and that’s why they are so tough.
And others simply say that they are not trying to raise a sissy.
“There’s nothing wrong with him; he just plays a little rough.”

“He’s a good kid, he is just misunderstood.
It’s natural for boys to fight.
It’s part of the masculine development.
Just ignore it, and he’ll be all right.”

If the violence is directed against a stranger or neighbor
It’s called assault or perhaps battery.
If it’s done on a highway in our cars, we shrug it off as road rage.
Accepting violence as normal is just insanity.

If it’s directed toward another religion or race
It gets another label; now it’s called a hate crime.
Every fifteen seconds a woman is abused
And we’re becoming more apathetic and violent with time.

If it’s on the playstation, or field, or in the ring
We call it entertainment, a sport, or a game.
Society even pays money to see more of this violence.
And the strongest of these “entertainers” rises to fame.

If it’s directed against a leader who’s powerful and not an ally
And there’s a plan to kill him, it’s  not murder but an assassination.
And we call violence against another country patriotism or war.
And somehow this is okay, is this a humane response or ignorant indoctrination?

Violence is just violence.
Power over another is its primary goal.
The perpetrator gets his/her adrenaline rush
By hurting others and keeping them under their control.

Violence is violence.
It’s all the same don’t you see.
And if society doesn’t begin to take it seriously
The next victim could be you or me.

©2008-9, Barbara S. Talley, www.ThePoetSpeaks.com