2012/abuser

Do not be fooled by the wife
beater t-shirt
watch for him in the Stanford
educated,
the soft spoken, mild mannered
in public, yes in public
know he is in rabid intellectual
the professor rocking on the balls
of his feet,
the car repair man who calls you dear
the tree trimmer who promises to
respect your wishes,
the gardener who shows up
when he pleases,
the neighbor who sets your
fence on fire and blames you.
He’s in all those places,
and your friend’s house, the one
who doesn’t get out much
any more, who wonders
what became of her life,
why it took the turn it did,
the one whose therapist
tells her to take responsibility
for what he does, the therapist
too is among them
because he is calling in
his life at your expense.
The worst of them are not
the ones who give black eyes
the worst are the ones
who never answer a single
request, who walk out of
the room when you are
talking, who ignore
everything you say
if they can’t manage
to forget it.
Who think nothing of
decades of deceit and lies
it was only your life,
which didn’t matter.

8/29/12