i have felt lately of writing my right and left wrists. the computer screen my journal behind: skipping stones skirting potholes. i have been told by a writer of pros. many believe it is easier to write poetry. i always want to ask. why don’t you. find breaks in histories of human music meaning and illustration a language unique. that is voice. that is yours different and yet intimately connected to many at the same time. a space of refrain. a need to say that which cannot be spoken. a spoken spoken that will address many perspectives. and realities. those of mine and yours and dreams and time in non linear limber accusations. those of culture, learned, forgotten, translated. there is a play in the language of poetry, of dipping into violence and beauty and spinning it into a twist of red and grey. there is love and death, a light personal, a dark universal. there is work to be done.

we listen, we speak, we communicate, we educate, we run circles. we run cycles. we follow. we lead. i see patriarchy caught in its own cycle of abuse. a cycle of reprimand. punishment. a need for sacrifice to uphold. rules. a fantastic construction by the founding philosophers. in language, rule is turned into fact. fact is turned into truth. language is used to describe in a linear manner that which is truth. few people are given access to this language. education. truth becomes a tool used to control. fact. sacrifice utilized to uphold truth. law depends on how well one persuades. story. your version of the truth. hopefully it bends the fact to your desired evocation. in the patriarchal world, boundaries are defined through negative reinforcement. negative reinforcement is only tangible if it is faithfully reinforced. behavior yearns to act. without getting caught. behavior continues, abuse continues. this is cyclical.

western culture’s philosophical and linguistic structure is a petri dish for cycles of violence and abuse. a tool employed to demonstrate power and control. war. a control of the other. domestic violence. happens. in all cultures. people of any and every race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion and class. the centers for disease control (CDC), reports domestic violence as a “serious public health problem” that affects more than 32 million americans yearly. that is of the cases reported. its estimated in the u.s. 1/3 of the cases remain. unreported. most women. physical violence; sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation economic deprivation, threats of violence, harm to pets, unwanted physical contact, rape, murder. psychological; mental abuse, isolation, fear. manipulation. guilt, humiliation, denial. the cycle: fantasy. set up. abuse. guilt. excuse. honeymoon. it happens to anyone everywhere.

its uncomfortable. this topic of violence. its invisible. its easier. when it remains invisible.

every 9 seconds in the u.s. a woman is assaulted or beaten. domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. everyday in the u.s., more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends. based on reports from 10 countries, between 55 percent and 95 percent of women who had been physically abused by their partners had never contacted non-governmental organizations, shelters, or the police for help.

we cannot change anything unless we accept it. condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses. – carl jung

when things become visible. they lose power. there are veins in this cracked cored cement. there is possibility outside of the foundation. because we dream and we love and we realize that this is one lens. it will not stop or change however. unless we look at the uncomfortable and make it visible.

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