Inspirational Reading
I Got Flowers Today
Copyright Sept 91 Allen "Two Trees" Dowdell
Domestic Violence
Remember you are not alone,
help is just a phone call away.
What is Abuse? - A Warning List
Many women don't think of themselves as abused.
They may not think of themselves as battered.
Many victims don't see the things their partners do to
them as abusive, and they don't see them as a pattern.
Abuse is about control. It is one person scaring another
person into doing what he wants her to do.
It is not just one hit. It is a pattern.
Abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, economic.
It can also be criminal. It is usually a whole series of
behaviors used to get and keep control.
Here is a list of questions for you to ask yourself.
You don't need to answer yes to all of them to have been abused.
Has your partner ever...
hit, grabbed, choked, bitten, burned, slapped or pushed you?
used a gun or a knife or some kind of weapon against you?
hit you with some object like a bat or pan or belt?
hit, held or squeezed you so hard that it left a bruise?
threatened to hurt or to kill you or your children or your friends?
withheld money or food or medicine or transportation from you?
called you names, made you feel ashamed of yourself, humiliated you?
put you down in front of your children, your friends, your boss?
forced you to have sex when you did not want to?
forced you to perform sexual acts you did not want to?
destroyed or broken your possessions?
threatened to harm or kill himself if you do or don't do something?
You are not alone.
You are not to blame.
And, you can get help
A House With Many Windows
EMERGENCE
For so long she has been deep inside the earth.
The stones, the rocks, and the boulders all weighing down on her,
oppressing her. She has struggled against her prison, her tomb,
her enclosure, her stone cell. Now she is emerging as a new person.
Reborn and coming out of the stone, alive again.
She feels the warmth and the light of the day.
Rejoice – I am here.
My struggle is over.
Natalie Professed to be a Free Spirit
She wants so much to be free.
Free to express herself, free to be
Her real self, free to be somebody
Else, free of obligations, attachments,
Entanglements which bind her, hold
Her down. She struggles to proclaim
That she is a free spirit. She loudly
And proudly proclaims that she is a
Free spirit. She defies you with her
Stare and attitude challenging you to
Question her freedom. She is
Challenging you with her freedom.
This is not her true self.
She can not see. Her only cage
Is the one she made herself.
My Sister Calls to Me
My Sister, Sister, Sister Sis she calls to me.I feel her.
She flows through me.
Why did she leave?
Where did she go?
I am lost without her.
I can’t sleep, I can’t sit still.
I can’t get a grip on it.
I can’t get around it.
I can’t breath, But
She still calls to me.
Sister, sister, sis, sis……… sis
She calls to me, but I can’t answer.
Why can ‘t I answer?
Why can’t my hand stop shaking?
I look for her everywhere, in everybody,
In everything, but I don ‘t see her.
But still she calls to me.
Finally
She is at Peace with the World
She has struggled for so long.
Every turn and twist has been
A disappointment. The pain and
The effort were almost too much to bear.
Somewhere, somehow peace of spirit has descended
Over her being. How it happened
She does not know.
But now, finally, she is at peace with
The world and at peace with herself.
