The Victim's Character Poem by Tebogo Angela Poen

A beautiful white rose trampled on the ground,
Wrestled with dirt and the winds
No hope of life for it
Its only hope- the sun- the source of its life and strength, seems to be killing it
Because it is no longer rooted to the ground
And all the other factors known to help the plants grow strong and beautiful
Are its worst enemies

People passing by now see a rose with brown petals- withered
It takes the eyes of the wise to pierce through the dirt and wilt
To reach out to the rose’ poor soul
In order to tell that the rose was once beautiful

Her shiny fearful eyes are the only thing she has left to tell that she is a good person, yet containing a damaged soul.
A very lovely pair she has
But one can’t gaze into them for more than a second
Since they are always busy moving around; all over the place, unsettled,
Anti-social; refuse to meet with any other pair of eyes.
The only places she can stare at for a long time are the space and the ground
The mirror is a constant reminder of the shame and the joke she is

Her smile that she shows to hide her real feeling makes one confused
You wouldn’t know whether to smile back or ask if she’s okay
She tells everybody that she’s strong and over it
But you could see that she’s crying for comfort and protection even though she resists
It will surely take some time for her to trust life again

She always claims that she doesn’t need help and wants to be left alone
But at the same time, she needs some company
(The space and the ground I suppose)
She wants to do everything by herself, but she needs help
She would sometime refuse to cry
To sort of prove that she’s strong and isn’t hurt
But every morning she wakes up from a wet pillow
(sweat maybe….?)

Try showing her pity, she will put you at your place
But she really needs comfort

Her innocent and pure soul has been kidnapped and silenced
All she’s left with is this confusing character that she doesn’t understand herself
Now how do you bring back her real character?
How do you bring who she was before encountering the ills of this world?
How do you bring back her voice?
If ‘Humpty Dumpty’ could not be put back together,
What hope does she have?
You wouldn’t even know where to start recollecting those broken pieces
To bring her back to her original state

‘Rude’ is not the best way to describe her by someone who knows her
And understanding what she’s been through
Maybe emotional in a weird way will do for now, whilst we still looking for a better description
But who can blame her
Those who don’t know her may say that she deserves every bad thing happening to her because of her actions
Not knowing that it’s the other way round;
All her actions and behaviour are a product of bad things happening in her life from a very young age
Before you judge her, ask for her side of the story
Let her unveil the truth to you

I know that she will someday, tell the whole story
I know she will not go to the grave with it
And I believe it will have some impacts on someone’s life
She just needs some time to recollect her strength
And add to that, that she will need for the world’s criticisms

She would like to remain anonymous for now
But to be fair to you, I shall call her the victim
And this is the victim’s character.