Poetry
Behind a Generation of Smiles
Mark Tulin
I’ve been close to women
with hearts broken,
kindred spirits exploited ,
who cling to splinters of hope.
In their vulnerability and rage,
they hide behind a generation of smiles.
They all have abuse in common,
lasting and permanent,
fear that rises and falls,
memories that trigger cries.
When I am with these women,
I get angry, too.
But I know I shouldn’t fight their battles;
it only leads to victimization,
a colony of men
taking over again.
I ask myself, how can an abuser
destroy a woman's innocence so blindly?
Why can’t they see the consequences
of their actions?
Yet, I am drawn to these women,
to their pain wrapped in a blanket of grief,
hardship mixed with love,
a desire to run, yet fight back.
with hearts broken,
kindred spirits exploited ,
who cling to splinters of hope.
In their vulnerability and rage,
they hide behind a generation of smiles.
They all have abuse in common,
lasting and permanent,
fear that rises and falls,
memories that trigger cries.
When I am with these women,
I get angry, too.
But I know I shouldn’t fight their battles;
it only leads to victimization,
a colony of men
taking over again.
I ask myself, how can an abuser
destroy a woman's innocence so blindly?
Why can’t they see the consequences
of their actions?
Yet, I am drawn to these women,
to their pain wrapped in a blanket of grief,
hardship mixed with love,
a desire to run, yet fight back.
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Mark Tulin is a former family therapist living in California. His books include Magical Yogis, Awkward Grace, The Asthmatic Kid and Other Stories, Junkyard Souls, and Rain on Cabrillo. He’s been featured in Amethyst Review, Vita Brevis Press, The Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, and others. Follow Mark at crowonthewire.com.
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