Stop Hurting HER!
Our biggest fear is not making it home safely.
Our greatest regret is you
Our strongest hatred is what you do
Our purity stolen by you
Our innocence ripped from our hands
Now tell me, are we safe?
‘Get a protection order’, they say
‘Take boxing classes’, they say
‘Watch how you dress’, they say
‘Don’t walk far ‘, they say
And yet each, ‘they say’ led to one more statistic
Now tell me are we safe?
It’s hard to see u as someone I used to know
I’m stuck in a cycle of vicious memories I shouldn’t have
Your nails, how they dug into my skin when all I wanted was to be caressed
Your hand, how it merged with my face when all I wanted was to rest
Your belt, how it left swollen tattoos on my skin, when its job is to hold your trousers.
Now tell me, are we safe?
You pretended like you loved me in kisses
When my skin remembers bruises
You acted like I was your precious pet
When all you did was treat me like a dog
You love to call me pretty
When I learnt to see ugly in the mirror from your words?Now tell me, am I safe?
You make me fell crazy for remembering your fist
Ironically, that’s the only thing that seemed to turn you on
You fill me with compliments
Ironically, you’ve stuffed me with insults
You act like you’re strong and manly
Ironically, only weak men force
You act like you’re sincere
Ironically, you knew your actions were pretend
Now tell me, are we safe?
Red, swollen, enlarged
Pain, devastation, betrayal
The bruises don’t hurt anymore
My body is numb, numb to your pain
Renewed wounds and relived scars.
It has become a norm in society
My palace of respect is now a vessel of insecurities.
Now tell me, are we safe?
Gently, he would stare into my eyes with endless admiration
Lightly, he would caress my skin with soul swelling adoration
Delicately, he took my purity with promised good intention
Mildly, he became more hollow and spoke words with less conviction
Rarely, he treated me with love respect or compassion
Harshly he handles me with no regard or conscience
Roughly he inflicts pain and sadness without hesitation
Now tell me, are we safe?I tried convincing myself that this is love
Always counting the ways I let u down
But truth is I let myself down
I should have known something so painful wasn’t love
That something so forced wasn’t love.
That clearly I was a victim of manipulation.
Now tell me, are we safe?
Now tell me, are we safe?
She is now mute
Her tears have run dry
Her sobs have silenced
Her lips no longer utter
Her skin no longer flawless
Her face no longer attractive
Now tell me, are we safe?

So according to me #StewieLeSavage today we are celebrating the eighth day of the sixteen days of activism against gender based violence with Lindokuhle Nkhatha.