Recently a friend’s entire life got turned upside down by domestic violence. I don’t know a lot of details, and obviously it’d be uncool to share them here without her permission, but I know that she was very seriously afraid of someone she lived with, and had to get away from him in a hurry. I haven’t known her all that long, but I’m still so shaken by what happened, so sorry that I had no idea what she must have been going through. I wish I could have helped.<\/p>\n
I wish I could say this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this happen to someone I care about. But it’s not.<\/p>\n
She’s better off than some people who end up in this kind of situation. She has relatives she can live with. She has friends who are willing to risk their own safety to stand between her and a dangerous man. But still… I’m worried for her.<\/p>\n
So, to my friend (and anyone else who might need it), I want to say: Do not be ashamed. You do not deserve this. It’s not your fault. But you can live through this, and it will get better. You’ve already done the hardest part. And you have friends, and family. Don’t be too proud to lean on them. They care about you, and they want to help.<\/p>\n
There’s no poem that’s going to fit here, but I thought some words of hope would be useful. So here’s a few from the Patron Saint of Oppressed Women, Emily Dickinson<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cHope\u201d is the thing with feathers\u2014 And sweetest\u2014in the Gale\u2014is heard\u2014 I\u2019ve heard it in the chillest land\u2014 Also, if anyone should happen to need it or know someone who does, here’s contact info for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which can provide crisis intervention, safety planning, information and referrals to agencies in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands: http:\/\/www.ndvh.org\/<\/strong><\/a> (warning: computers can be monitored – don’t click on the link unless you feel secure on the computer you’re using), 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Recently a friend’s entire life got turned upside down by domestic violence. I don’t know a lot of details, and obviously it’d be uncool to share them here without her permission, but I know that she was very seriously afraid of someone she lived with, and had to get away from him in a hurry. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry-friday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1548"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThat perches in the soul\u2014
\nAnd sings the tune without the words\u2014
\nAnd never stops\u2014at all\u2014<\/p>\n
\nAnd sore must be the storm\u2014
\nThat could abash the little Bird\u2014
\nThat kept so many warm\u2014<\/p>\n
\nAnd on the strangest Sea\u2014
\nYet, never, in Extremity,
\nIt asked a crumb\u2014of Me.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n