Love is not to persevere,

It is not decorated in bruises and blisters

Cut lips and broken fingers

Punches and kicks have replaced hugs and kisses

Why should love be painful?

Ice packs on black eyes

Makeup to cover up scars

Constant state of walking on eggshells

Apologizing even when he is wrong?

I close my eyes and try to remember your smile,

Not the forced one you wear on Sundays at church

Or the one that is plastered on the family picture in the living room

Do you even remember the taste of happiness?

How it feels for laughter to spill from your lips?

When you look in the mirror,

Do you recognize yourself?

The shell of a woman that stares back at you

Devoid of life and love

Is this who you are meant to be?

Marriage has become a jail,

You still wear your ring proudly

But what about the shackles bound to your feet?

Celebrating anniversaries,

Yet they are a death sentence to you,

A reminder that you have trapped yourself in this hell

Refusing to leave because, “what will people say?”

Do you ever wonder what will happen,

When it is no longer a slap to your cheek

Or a punch to your face?

When it becomes a knife digging through your stomach,

Or a bullet straight to the head.

When the wound can not be covered under heaps of concealer?

Laying on the floor lifeless

What will happen then?

When a casket becomes your home?

When you will become a mere hashtag #JusticeFor…