Don't hit me again daddy

Child Abuse

My small hands crack

As I use them

To cover my head and face;

the thin belt is much worse

than the thick - 

it whips more and leaves deeper welts

Funny how my mind

takes off - leaving me behind

I think of how my body will

look with the new 'stripes'

I pretend I'm a tiger 

in the mirror - when 

the swelling goes down

and I wear my pain

for only me to see...

Author's Note

Imagine this.
Tear it up.

Reviews

[Zoya]

Painful to even read...
It's not an easy task to leave the reader teary-eyed, only after making them read I guess a poem of about 10-12 lines. You did that easily, or maybe not so easily, idk. Whatever it is, this poem is quite heartbreaking. Thanks for sharing.

[Tony Jordan]

Thank you for your words Zoe.

[Zoya]

no problem

[Enchanted-Raven]

:( This really hurt my heart, powerfully sad read!

[Tony Jordan]

hurt my a*s - lol
then my heart when I realised not everyone was getting treated this way.read morehurt my a*s - lol
then my heart when I realised not everyone was getting treated this way.
thank you E.R.

[Enchanted-Raven]

awww I remember the feel of a belt from time to time...but then I was a chopsy kid

[Tony Jordan]

heh heh - my friend and I would compare the stripes - he got it with an old electrical flex - the woven type which seemed to leave bigger welts

[Enchanted-Raven]

The bean pole sticks that made a whoosh before it hit.....ahh memories lol

[hiding]

New stripes.. My goodness I adore this. I'm speechless. Thank you for writing.. Writing is an outlet, and it's a safe zone for those who feel they could never say things out loud.

[Terry Baird]

Poignant. Seems to be flirting with someones actual thoughts. A sign of good writing is if it makes you uncomfortable. And this does.

[FJ Davis]

Tragic.
Violence committed against children was, unfortunately, rather commonplace in the generation previous to mine.
Distressingly vivid depiction, Tony!

[Luna]

I really do love your poems Tony. You show us practical examples of life from darkness to brightness, no fiction, no fantasy just reality and that's the reason why it leaves a mark on our hearts. A very powerful read and highly recommended. Thank you for sharing it

[Great Aunt Astri]

yes, it is hard to understand these things. Sometimes, I think, if we try to understand (That is to see things from the other's point of view), and can see 'where they are coming from', it does help a bit. Perhaps your dad just did not know what else to do? but it is very hard for the victim. I thought your poem said it very clearly.... and poetically! Good for you.

[Scerina Elizabeth]

Aww deeply felt - I love how descriptive you were and my heart went out to you as well :(

[darkangle]

brings back memories my bio did this to me

[Kelly Scheppers]

Such a riveting read, Tony. It's hard to believe someone bigger and stronger would intentionally take their aggressions out on a helpless, innocent child.

The story you composed this into is a must read. Thank you for posting it!

[Tony Jordan]

And the irony is that it revealed to even me, a child, how weak he really was. I lost all respect for him.
Thank you for your thoughts Kelly. (the read more glitch is at work tonight lol)

[FIN]

Nice storytelling, Mr. Jordan.

The perspective is well done; you took an unconvential, hard-to-look-at subject matter and painted it from the perspective of a child as if experienced first handedly... each line leaves one to ponder the incident as the story progresses smoothly, expanding the awareness and emotional understanding of such aspect of life.

Nice job, Man.

Much love,

LR

[Tony Jordan]

Not exactly a fictional story LR but more of a memory told as a story poem ...
Thank you my friend.
yours - as always Tony