Today another woman
died
and not on a foreign
field
and not with a rifle
strapped to her back,
and not with a large
defense of tanks
rumbling and rolling
behind her.
She died without CNN
covering her war.
She died without talk
of intelligent bombs
and strategic targets
The target was simply
her face, her back
her pregnant belly.
The target was her
precious flesh
that was once composed
like music
in her mother’s body
and sung
in the anthem of birth.
The target was this
life
that had lived its
own dear wildness,
had been loved and
not loved,
had danced and not
danced.
A life like yours or
mine
that had stumbled
up
from a beginning
and had learned to
walk
and had learned to
read.
and had learned to
sing.
Another woman died
today.
not far from where
you live;
Just there, next door
where the tall light
falls across the pavement.
Just there, a few steps
away
where you’ve often
heard shouting,
Another woman died
today.
She was the same girl
her mother used to
kiss;
the same child you
dreamed
beside in school.
The same baby her
parents
walked in the night
with
and listened and listened
and listened
For her cries even
while they slept.
And someone has confused
his rage
with this woman’s
only life.
-Carol Geneya Kaplan
Phenomenal Women of the Web Against Domestic Violence
Department of Justice's Violence Against Women Homepage
The
Psychological Impact
of
Domestic Violence on
Domestic
Violence Victims and Child Witnesses
The Safety Zone Domestic Violence Resource Page
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence
No Safe Place...Companion Site to PBS Documentary
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