Jane Seskin is a clinical social worker and writer whose poetry has appeared in journals, newspapers, and magazines.. Her book, Witness to Resilience, consists of moving, poignant, vivid poems about violence towards women. They touch our hearts and sear our souls. The first poem in this book is “Home.”
I never thought
of the kitchen as a battlefield
with hot foods,
dishes, pots, and silverware used as weapons.
I never imagined
a broken mirror could scar flesh,
a bedroom pillow could smother a breath,
a curtain rod could gouge out an eye.
I never realized
the handy tool chest
could be
so lethal;
roach spray could blind,
hammers could break fingers
and screwdrivers could puncture arms, legs, breasts.
I never thought,
imagined,
or realized,
but now I do, since I started listening
to women
talk
about
the violence.
*****
William Carlos Williams wrote:
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
In Jane Seskin’s poems, the voices of the abused women she sat with, are a cry, a seminar, from the heart.
For more information see: Domestic Violence Facts