Tag: domestic abuse

Poetry by Patrick Jennings
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Hours Before the Dawn, Bridger Bay, Antelope State Park, Utah, United States of America

Hours Before the Dawn, the Sun Rises

Sky and lake
Rippled with moonlight
Clouds a veil
Drawn over coy constellations

On the shore
She stands
In a susurrus of near silence
But for the lap of wavelets
On salt crusted sand

Intent on the texts
Passed between friends
“I am free” she writes
“Good” comes the reply
A pause, and then, “Be safe!”
“I will” she taps out
Adds “I don’t know how long
I’ll be AWOL”
A long wait before
“Your leave is authorized” and
“Take all the time you need”
“I will” she repeats

She smiles
Throws the phone into the lake
Where concentric ripples
Interrupt the linear
Gradually diminishing
Until they disappear altogether

She stands a good while longer
Content
Relieved
If a little anxious
About what the coming daylight will bring
Then shrugs it off

“Fuck him”

Hours before the dawn
The darkness has already ended

Continue reading Hours Before the Dawn, the Sun Rises
Poetry by Patrick Jennings
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Immovable vs Unstoppable, Ucluelet Storm Season, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

For the Survivors

As sea falls back into sea
Prepares for a new assault on the shore
Its hardened rock
Broken but not brittle
Recalcitrant
Beneath the bruised sky
Of abuses relentless

I am reminded
Of the survivors

I came for the storms
For the thrash and hiss
Of the sea upon the rock
The immovable
Resisting the unstoppable

And it is
In a manner
Difficult to describe
So utterly beautiful
And moving

But I wish
In this moment
Only for the peace
Of a clear sky
And an ocean
Becalmed

Continue reading For the Survivors
Poetry by Patrick Jennings
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Yellow Chair, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Sunshine ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #264

It waited for her
The little yellow chair
At the back of the house
In the little nook
Hidden away
From anyone’s eyes

Late afternoon sunshine
Filtered through
The winter boughs
Eaves and overhangs
Sheltered her
From the usual Vancouver rain

But today
The sun
Fell on
Her little sunshine chair

A cigarette
And long moments
Filled with thoughts
Without consequence
Smalltalk daydreams
To pass the time
In seeming silence
While she chattered
With herself
About nothing

Beside the red house
Which was all red inside
Though the walls were white
And the Late Colonial furniture
In browns and blues

A quiet little moment
Of no small function
Before returning to
The dysfunction within

A small, life-saving moment
Of manufactured sunshine
Amplified
By the trickle of sun
Passing through naked branches

Continue reading Sunshine ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #264