Empty Shell

bittersweet are the whispers
shadows dancing through the night
as love is made it changes nothing
an empty shell of a woman he holds tight
adulteration contaminated everything
that used to sanctify holy matrimony
he admits to nothing nor shows compunction
though she knows everything
she wants to leave but has no means
she hungers for the ability to cry
her desire for any sort of release
from this frustration that is so immense
at times she feels as though
her heart will burst wide open
still, she can’t show anything
while placating to his satisfaction
she’s plotting a long game
giving her and her son the advantage
if, only, she would have listened to
the warning given to her
she would have been able to avoid
the horrors done to her by him
injuries of mind, body and Spirit
that the, pathological liar,
claimed were extraneous
finally, she is free to be all
that she was meant to be before
shaking hands with the devil
before a justice of the peace
and two witnesses – her father and niece
who had no idea she’d been warned
her mother told her it was her fault
that she should be a better wife
after a long and arduous
three and a half years, which
(coincidentally) was the same amount of time
she was bonded to this sociopath
all she wants now is what was taken 
from her or lost trying to escape the torment
and so it goes for her son and herself
after leaving the country failed
at least this battle had ended
now she awaits her dues for the fight
that became her debt to Karma
most lessons can, only, be learned
after severe pain or consequence

©2008 – Tamara Imes-Nicholas (edited 2015)