You look my way and you suppose,

there’s no brain behind my bloodied nose,

you’ve told me time and time again,

how I’ll end up dead if I don’t leave him,

but round and round the tragedy goes,

nursed better, then battered and beaten;

I just can’t seem to stand on my own,

but I know that I should be long gone,

you’ve pointed out repeatedly,

how he will do it again eventually,

and you’re predictions are dead on,

but he won’t agree to let me leave;

not before he steals away from me,

the fading smile I still wear in my sleep,

he can’t lose control that way,

he’ll see me dead if I won’t stay,

he’ll follow my feet wherever they go,

convince people to betray what they know,

he will track me and demand parlay,

then keep me locked up for weeks in a row;

is there actually no hope for escape?

from underneath this deadly weight,

his grip only tightens when I try to move,

once again, I’m sporting his custom tattoos,

that his hatred never lets begin to fade,

I’ve been re-colored black and blue.