Hands Upon Your Soul Poem by Thoughts of a Single Man

Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul

Let no one steal your joyous warmth and banish you to the endless road of the bitter cold

For I know I am not the only one and this is the saddest of tales that too often has been told

Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul

He is big and I am small

I lay silent in my bed at night too afraid to move

Too frightened to breathe

Laying so still

As if I was already buried beneath the soil of the earth

Listening here in the dark

For those heavy footsteps to come down the hall

He was supposed to love me

He was supposed to protect me

I wish now I had no attention from him at all

I wish he would neglect me

Forget me

Just for one damn night

It's not supposed to be this way

I know that this is wrong

I must tell someone anyone but for now I must be strong

The days seem so short when I am away from him at school

There with the other children laughing and playing

While all the while deep inside I am silently praying

That I do not have to go back home

For the nights seem to last forever and are always so very long

He was supposed to love me

And I remember a time when I loved him so much

That was before the night so long ago

Of that first bad touch

I know others in the house are not blind

And perhaps they still see him as kind

And refuse to believe the reality that we exist in

This morning I actually saw my mother hug and kiss him

I wonder if he left and never came back

Would I be the only one that would never miss him

Shhh …let me listen

I think he is coming again

But I won't let this defeat me

I won't let him beat me

And this time it might not be so easy

For tomorrow I will tell someone of this horror

And if they do not believe me I will tell another and another

Until someone intervenes

For if I do not years from now his filthy actions I am sure

Will still haunt me in my dreams

I must escape this abusive mental prison

I must stop this physical pain

Wash away the sin of his stain

And make this once again the safest of homes

Because I don't think anyone wants to know the truth

That I live with a rapist in my home

Sometimes I feel so alone

As the tears begin to fall once more

And I could have swore right here in this moment

I heard someone standing in front of my bedroom door

Is he out there again

Is it that terrible time again

I close my eyes tightly now

And here in the darkness of my existence

In the ensuing persistence of my surging resistance

I once again repeat the prayer that has become my solemn vow



Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul

Let no one steal your joyous warmth and banish you to the endless road of the bitter cold

For I know I am not the only one and this is the saddest of tales that too often has been told

Let no one lay their hands upon you and leave their mark upon your soul

Thoughts of a Single Man © 2014 tm