The Beaten Children

REAL LIFE PLAYERS: Me & my brother, Jonie (I do not remember her mother's name.), David, Robert, Greta, Michelle (brothers & sisters) - Mother = Dolores, Darlene (cousin to the above) RIP Darlene - Mother = Joanne (sister to Dolores), Howard & Regina (brother and sister) - Mother = Helen
In silent recesses, I look back
Much of what I thought to be reality
And the horrors experienced during childhood
Have been confirmed
These were not things I made up
But through the eyes of a seven year-old
What is clarity?
Can one really remember the experience?
Sometimes I wonder if it was a nightmare as
Child abuse is unsettling
Yet it gives me peace knowing the gun was not pointed at me
The chains, belts, threats of murder, and repeated beatings
Look narrow in comparison
As she was not my mother
Only now have I been made aware of her illness
The woman at whose hands showed no mercy
Hated children
Why was she allowed to take in so many?
Why did one (Darlene) die at age two? (Actually, she was murdered by her mother and her mother's boyfriend.)
Perhaps she was spared
It is we the survivors who bear the inner scars
It is we who cannot explain to those who have not known
That which lies within and causes fear - 8/27/06