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Open Poetry #9
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Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania

0 posted 2000-09-02 03:54 PM



I know everone's sick of poems on abuse, but I found this on my hard drive, it might be helpful to somebody

On Verbal Abuse

Darker night than this has fallen
In my mind’s obscurity
Thicker clouds have left me lost
In hazes of uncertainty

Blinded was I once before
By black of degradation’s shroud
The sword to my submissiveness
Was wielded at me clear and loud

Entrapped in darkness were my eyes
Unfit to see the simple truth
I couldn’t look upward toward the sun
So timid was I in my youth

I never felt the pain until
It  finally came into my mind
That I did not deserve dishonor
Which had come to make me blind

So difficult to break the chain
I held my self esteem so low
And nothing changed until one day
I learned to voice the answer,”NO!”

The greatest gift that can be given
To one who’s self worth was the cost
Is helping them to recognized
Their former self that has been lost

Elizabeth Santos

© Copyright 2000 Elizabeth Santos - All Rights Reserved
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
1 posted 2000-09-02 04:04 PM


Elizabeth, this is sure to lift someone up and allow them the knowledge that it is OK to learn to say NO so that they will suffer in silence no longer...

Thank you!

Wilfred Yeats
Member Elite
since 2000-08-04
Posts 2704
Wilmington, Delaware
2 posted 2000-09-02 04:05 PM


No one should feel they must submit to abuse -
You wrote this very well - and I'm glad you posted it

EagleOne
Member Elite
since 2000-03-07
Posts 2829
Between a laugh and a tear...
3 posted 2000-09-02 04:15 PM


I Agree, this is well written and I'm glad you posted it. No form of abuse should be tolerated and only by bringing the subject out into the light will we ever be able to stop it, and help those involved.< !signature-->

"The heart and soul have no illusion of boundries when friendship is the quest"
~ My Angel.


[This message has been edited by EagleOne (edited 09-02-2000).]

Mark Bohannan
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-06-21
Posts 7269
In the winds of Cherokee song
4 posted 2000-09-02 04:22 PM


Abuse is abuse and should never be tolerated and you have penned it superbly my friend.  I too am glad you posted it.
rosepetals25
Deputy Moderator 5 Tours
Member Elite
since 2000-05-31
Posts 3076
PA
5 posted 2000-09-02 05:30 PM


Elizabeth,

   "...The greatest gift that can be given
To one who’s self worth was the cost
Is helping them to recognized
Their former self that has been lost..."


What a powerful message.  You have touched my heart with this poem and I'm sure many others.  I'm very glad I stopped in.  Thank you posting the poem.


                    rp25

Seymour Tabin
Member Empyrean
since 1999-07-07
Posts 31720
Tamarac Fla
6 posted 2000-09-02 05:35 PM


Elizabeth,
No surprise to me, a wonderful poem. Love Sy

English Rose
Member
since 2000-08-20
Posts 211
Berkshire, England
7 posted 2000-09-02 05:35 PM


yes Elizabeth...very true, very true indeed.
I too was the subject of both verbal and physical abuse in my childhood and even now, at 47, I find it hard to believe my worth.

Nan
Administrator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-05-20
Posts 21191
Cape Cod Massachusetts USA
8 posted 2000-09-02 05:37 PM


Verbal abuse is entirely different from physical abuse - It's effects are very deep rooted, and the scars overwhelming... Yet the perpetrator has perhaps never laid a hand on the victim.  You've done a good job here, Elizabeth - I commend you..
Balladeer
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-05
Posts 25505
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl USA
9 posted 2000-09-02 05:47 PM


Write on, Miss Liz!!!!
Sudhir Iyer
Member Ascendant
since 2000-04-26
Posts 6943
Mumbai, India : now in Belgium
10 posted 2000-09-02 07:11 PM


Fantastic writing...

please keep writing on the subject...

regards O Liz,
Sudhir

Elizabeth Santos
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-11-08
Posts 9269
Pennsylvania
11 posted 2000-09-02 07:58 PM


Thank you all so very much for reading and for your wonderful comments on this poem. I think verbal abuse is very common and it is degrading and can leave a person scarred for life. Incidentally, this poem is not about my parents, who were very, very loving and never said an unkind word to anybody.
Thank you
Liz

Kit McCallum
Administrator
Member Laureate
since 2000-04-30
Posts 14774
Ontario, Canada
12 posted 2000-09-02 08:43 PM


Very nicely written Liz, with gentle and encouraging advice. I watched someone's self esteem whittle away to nothing through this form of abuse. It's taken years for her to come back from it ... an uphill battle. You've written this well.

Best wishes,
/Kit

Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049
California
13 posted 2000-09-02 10:03 PM


Liz--this is very powerful writing...I know what verbal abuse does to self esteem...only by talking about it can it be recognized as the evil that it is.  Thank you for posting this, dear friend.
Auguste
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Elite
since 2000-02-16
Posts 3953
By the sea
14 posted 2000-09-03 12:58 PM


Liz,
I couldn't agree more with what this has to say.  You've done well here, my friend...very well.  Take care.

Michael


Proust-
"Love is space and time measured by the heart"

CocoBaci
Member Elite
since 2000-05-06
Posts 3043

15 posted 2000-09-03 01:17 AM


Indeed a great poem with an important message...

It's hard today to unveil verbal abuse as it disguises itself in silence among its victims...

Compared to physical abuse one may see the signs unfolding more easily...

I have a g/f who was subjected to thisNsome throughout her early childhood N teenage years and now in mid-twenties the veil is removed and thru support a life new begins...

Coco

Dee
Member Elite
since 2000-08-19
Posts 2330
Queensland, Australia
16 posted 2000-09-03 03:19 AM


Well said Elizabeth. And an important topic.
Dee

LM
Senior Member
since 2000-08-03
Posts 585

17 posted 2000-09-03 04:37 AM


Great message! Right on!!!
Marsha
Deputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2000-07-10
Posts 7423
Maidstone Kent England
18 posted 2000-09-03 06:59 AM


This is a poem that is so right. Let the message ring clear, no one has a right to make someone else suffer. Well done Elizabeth, a poem that needs to be read, and heard by everyone. Take care.  
American Princess
Junior Member
since 2000-08-21
Posts 49
USA
19 posted 2000-09-03 08:06 AM


Beautifully done! The subject is hard to read about but needs the light of day. Being told you are never good enough can shred your ego...takes a long time to overcome if you ever can..Wish I could write like this.

American Princess




It's only me, thinking out loud...

serenity blaze
Member Empyrean
since 2000-02-02
Posts 27738

20 posted 2000-09-03 10:10 AM


I didn't want to read it...but because of the "read it anyway"  I did...and thank you Miss Elizabeth...I knew what I would find there...and oh 'tis true  'tis true...with a smile, a hug, and a thank you...I raise my coffee cup to ya this morn'...
Irish Rose
Member Patricius
since 2000-04-06
Posts 10263

21 posted 2000-09-03 06:14 PM


You go girl!!!  


Kathleen


ethome
Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858
New Brunswick Canada
22 posted 2000-09-03 07:57 PM


That tells it all so well Elizabeth...we're all individuals and deserve self respect and anyone taking that away from us is deserving of no respect. I know what you mean by the word NO it's so important to learn to use it with meaning and forcefulness. This poem is so well done!....I don't think you can ever write or say enough about it......take care ...ethome...
BloomingRose
Member Elite
since 2000-08-09
Posts 3092
Florida
23 posted 2000-09-03 08:25 PM


Elizabeth
So true are your words.

Deb

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