Posted By Nyar Afrika
On Oct 24, 2017
Beneath the bruises is a woman healing
Discovering herself
Finding a voice.
Letting go of her fears
Being reborn a new.
Learning to say no.
Beneath the bruises is a woman standing up for herself.
She is speaking out because she is tired
Tired of being the victim.
She wants to be free.
She can’t go around coiling up in a foetal position every time they argue
just to escape her blows.
She wants to be herself.
That black eye with hues of red, purple or blue isn’t who she is
She is not her empty heart stripped bear by cruel words
coming from the ones who promised to be there.
She is not her bloody mouth or her swollen neck
She is more than being pinned on the bathroom wall
and penetrated against her wish.
Beneath the bruises is a woman who is strong,
who doesn’t flinch when shouted at
Who doesn’t agree with everything for the sake of peace.
There is a strong woman who knows what she wants
who has set her priorities straight
who knows that No means No.
She is slowly accepting
that she loved someone who loved themselves more than her
That she let fear control her
and prevent her from speaking out.
That she allowed words to shred her self esteem into pieces.
Beneath the bruises is a woman
out to reclaim her glory.
Respect
Honesty
A kick in her ribs,
a slap on her cheek,
Another word that broke her heart
opened her eyes and
Encouraged her to wake up
to run away with the wind
Beneath the bruises,
she is like a phoenix rising from the ashes
She is being reincarnated.
This version of herself is wild
Untamed
Unrestricted
Unbridled
She is like a strom
Powerful…
and strong
Beneath the bruises
Is a woman who has learned the hard way
That she is not responsible for anyone’s insecurities
That she is not to blame for anyone’s shame
That it was never her fault she got hit.
That it was never her fault she got damaged
That it will never be her fault she got annihilated.
Beneath the bruises
there is this woman
Who is embracing herself again
Who is learn to to let go of the past and welcome her unknown future
Who is rewriting history
Who is setting a legacy
Who is ready to start on a new plate.
Beneath the bruises,
There is woman who finally got tired of being a punching bag
Of being a statistic
Of being used as an example
And so she walked out,
Her pain warped around her shoulders like a a cloak,
ready for a new beginning.
© Nyar Afrika 2017
This piece forms part of the #QueeringTheCloak series which is part of a larger project exploring sexual, emotional and physical violence in queer women spaces on the continent. The project seeks to essentially ‘pull back the cloak’ on shame and silence around this violence.
For all the articles and pieces on #QueeringTheCloak click here.
Also an article on 11 Signs You Are being Gaslight in a relationship and another 10 things the author learned from someone using gaslighting as an abuse tactic. For more on supporting people here is a piece on supporting someone in abusive relationship and also a piece where the woman says At least she didn’t hit me”. There is also a piece by a woman who writes a letter to her ex abuser’s new girlfriend. Also some healing words for after the relationship is done. There are also some stories such as this one entitled Wanja. There is also this piece about looking at abuse in feminist spaces and what happens if your abuser is a woke feminist.
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