FUNERAL FOR FABEKA HAYES

Mama was right,
I’ve heard it a hundred times.
He’s hurt you once
He’ll do it again.
I did not listen,
Now I suffer the consequences.
I wish a hundred times,
I could go back to that night.
I cried the next day,
For I had a black eye.
I should have listened to mama,
Now I suffer the consequences.
How much longer can this go on,
It’s all up to you, she’s always said.
So I finally stand up to him.
Now he’s put away,
I have surely suffered the consequences.
I should have listened to mama,
For now it is too late,
Because I am already dead.

-From a woman murdered by her spouse.