His fists to her were love
bouquet’d bruises in a velvet glove,
her tears like salted diamonds fell
shaped from pain she’d never tell
Her children not of hope but fear
their ransom all that held her here,
though if she ever could she would
renege her fragile motherhood.
She imagined home where once it was
and though not true still called it so,
for that is what the broke heart does
It keeps the beat when it should slow.
Notes from life 
Love the last stanza David. Although it has me recalling a time when I returned from The Persian Gulf – Op Granby a very angry, disturbed and affected man. I could not understand how I had degenerated from a Man that could only sing her praises to one who exhibited such violence upon her. We now know that toxins and agents as well as all the dynamics involved in warfare had play too. Understanding it has helped me from continuing such practice, and now, I have pacified myself so much that the other half I am with now has in fact put me in casualty 3 times lol. It is sad, perhaps there is mitigation for many, but that doesn’t make it right, or detract from the fact there are, utter monsters out there who do in essence carry out such behaviors out of pure malevolence for the female of the species. Sad though it is David, I have witnessed females carrying out violence on young males and have been the victim in childhood to such details. When witnessing it as an adult the female that carried out the onslaught on a young boy turned to me and said………..’You get em when they’re young!’…………That boy will probably grow into a man that at some point will turn, will retaliate through a process of sub conscience. And there the fingers are pointed and the sad sorry cycle of violence continues. Men, and women need to understand all these factors, and, that women too, carry out abuse when using men as emotional punchbags, a practice that can often lead at some point to another bout of retaliation. Psychological Education should be taught at schools in order to help young men and women understand all of these factors. I also feel philosophy and sociology could also be taught from as early as junior school as they do in other European countries that seem to exhibit less societal problems than we here in the UK do. Great poem nonetheless, and a difficult subject to approach.
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Thanks Mike, I hear and understand your words. I was one of the first British servicemen to be prescribed Larium back in 1999. I went to Sierra Leone with a small team of eight men. All of us suffered as a result, with various later manifestation and side effects. Some had frightening hallucinations, most of us terrible mood swings. The tour was quite distressing due to the violence which was going on in the country at the time (largely ignored due to balkan preoccupations in the media) I came home very angry and was not a nice person to be around at all. Trauma and chemicals, a bad mix Micheal, thanks for you comments pal.
David.
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Larium…..only for a wee bit….stopped it. The hallucinations and mood swings were terrible….. Most of my tours i returned angry and not the man i was….. Thank goodness for time and good partners.
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