Does this Darkness have a name?
Each minute, this Darkness swallows women and men alike
Each minute, these twenty-four human beings are pounded, penetrated, stalked and even slayed
by someone who is supposed to be their partner,
only to have them wondering, “what did I do wrong?”
“What did I do to deserve this?”
All the King’s horses, all the King’s men might as well become
“One out of three women, one out of four men –
buckle down, knees on the ground, left blindsided by the darkness”
Not only does the trust that their partner would “never hurt them,”
fade away, but so does a piece of their psychological sanity,
and every fifteen minutes, one of these victims unjustifiably fades away.
However, we can also put a name to the functionaries of the darkness,
OJ Simpson,
Mel Gibson,
Brock Turner,
Brett Kavanaugh,
Antonio Brown,
and even Alec Baldwin!
These names have been tainted with harsh black ink, but those whose names are
Chanel Miller,
Christine Blasey Ford,
shall not be tainted by ridicule for those who don’t believe in #metoo.
Nicole Brown, you would’ve been proud.
This darkness is called domestic violence.
This darkness consumes the dignity of women and men alike—
what is left of them – “Was it something that I did?”
“Is there something wrong with me?”
No, honey. There is something wrong with society.
April Frances Federico is an up-and-coming poet, journalist, activist, and visual artist. She has a specific ardor for women's rights and Title IX issues. She is a huge literature nerd studying Creative Writing with minors in Arts Management and Visual Arts at Roger Williams University. She is also the voice behind The April Diaries and her work has been published in Rose Quartz, Ayaskala, honey & lime lit, Kissing Dynamite, Satin Soulbits, and HEAL(er) Mag.
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