I'm Going Home

"I'm going home" that's what she said to me. "Home"

A place where she gets slapped for feeding the baby too late

She's beaten for not taking out the damn dog!

Home

Why? How can she be going home?
"Who's taking you?"
"He's here"

She brought him herer to her only sanctuary
She gave him the last thing she possessed: Safety

And now she's going home

"I'm going home"
Her heavy Iranian accent leaking through her words

Sadness - I can hear it in her voice

Home
What home?
A house is all it is. There's no love or safety there

She came to us with her right eye blackened and despair in her face
She came to get away, to escape

And now..."I'm going home"

I can't understand why she would do this
But so many of them do....

Go home
Home

Home to a place of terror and rage
Silence and fear
Secrets and humiliation

Hit, slapped, kicked, choked, punched, bit, stabbed, shot

They go home
She went home
I begged her to stay, offered help

"I'm going home"

Love is blind, deaf, and dumb
Preferring to be beat than to being alone
Love goes home

She couldn't look me in the eye
As though she was ashamed
She stared at the floor and said

"I'm going home"
Home

No, you are giving up

*This poem means a lot to me, I work at a battered woman's shelter and I see this a lot, this was one case that really stuck out to me. Please let me know what you think