The Chimera

Now I sit and contemplate 

The past as it were.

Raw emotions and feelings

Bubble up unbidden.

Out of the recess of my mind

Dark images take shape.

Fingers curl ‘round my neck,

Sharp little teeth.

Disjointed, ripped in two

I watch the scene unfold.

Blood drips from a torn lip

Cascading down my face.

One small word, uttered quietly

Unleashes horrors untold.

His pathetic rage only stoked 

By my little thought

-Home

In the almost apartment that we shared

He changed shape;

A hoped for Chimera 

But in the end a monster, a mistake.

Thrown against the wall once more

I took refuge in memories;

Laughing, crying, sighing

In a far off place.

From these images, these memories

A sort of strength arose. 

Soft hands, a remembered smell

People I once knew.

From it I built a wall of protection

To carry through the night.

This strength was not my own

But borrowed from a greater force

-Family

On that night he beat me for the last time

These choices I have made they are all mine,

But what saved me from this past

-Home

-Family