Broken lines: 47 years

by Maple Tree   Jul 11, 2017


I wasn't designed
to be a scapegoat
for you to dance
around the truth.

The truth is Mother;

You have a mental
Image of me that
I will never be able
to fullfill.

Each passing year
Is not going to excuse
your disappointment
In who I have become.

The truth is.....

I have become a woman
that people have grown to
love, they see me for who
I was meant to be.

This poem is a raw,
public display of my
feelings on how damaging
emotional abuse can hurt
a child.

This child is now a writer
who is not afraid to speak
out on what it feels like to
be ashamed of who we are
because our parents made
us feel sorrow.

I write this poem
In broken lines
because mentally,
I'm broken.....

But I glued myself
back together, it took
fourty seven years,
but I did it on my own

no help from you.

You don't like reading
my poetry, so these lines
will never sink in -

but maybe, just maybe
my pain will save a child
from having to say the words
I've had to write today....

    report violation
15


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Latest Comments

  • 7 years ago

    by CJ Maleney

    Judges comments

    Broken lines: 47 Years" By Maple Tree 10 points

    Before I write my comments I need to say this.

    As I come across a poem that has been nominated, I will write a personal note about it and give it a score of ten. When another one appears that also gets a personal note. I will score it above or bellow. As a result the ten point poem may not be there for long and can gradually be bumped down the list of contenders.

    This is the first thing that I have read that has never slipped down the scale , not once, not one iota.

    With regards to the poem itself, where does one begin? It is quite clearly from the heart and is obviously written from life experience. When I read it for the first time it felt like it was alive,

    "I still feel the same reading now"

    It is very passionate and I also feel that little aggression came across too (perhaps more than a little). Sometimes we need a little of that just to push through. Too vocalise this in such a way is a measure of strength.

    (10) without hesitation or question.

  • 7 years ago

    by Ismelda Yvanna Peralta

    I love it

  • 7 years ago

    by Milly Hayward

    Beautiful emotional piece that raises awareness of a subject often kept hidden. well done on a well deserved win x

  • 7 years ago

    by Poet on the Piano

    Shivers all over. Andrea, the healing I felt reading this and I hope others feel. I am proud of you and the woman (and mother) you have become. You inspire me and so many others with the example of your love. I still have some bitterness in my heart from the past, because emotional abuse leaves those imprints on your heart that others may never know are there. But you persevered and you persisted (this reminds me of the quote "nevertheless, she persisted". And I think that's so important. To find your own strength. To say, this is who I am, not who you made me to be.

    Thank you for sharing this <3

  • 7 years ago

    by Brenda

    Oh Andrea, this write just killed me. I'm sorry you have had to deal with this all your life. This speaks volume of how strong a person's spirit can be. You are such a giving warm person, I could never imagined this. Thank you for sharing this-hugs

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