Broken Vessel

Her soul is galvanized
she's but a h o l l o w vessel.
Formed by so many years
of hurt and betrayal.
Insults and belittling
tossed forth with lies,
have wrapped tightly around
her throat, silencing the
very essence of her being,
drowning her into submission--
a doppelganger of her former self.

Once confident, smiling and happy,
now huddled in a dark corner
stowed away from any sign of life.
Lost and alone, drifting on a
decaying craft of someone else's
making. Shoulders rolled forward,
and tense, her head bowed toward
the ground, as if waiting on a rogue
wave to knock her down.

Light once beamed from her eyes
sea-green, now only flash S.O.S.

Too many years of words that s c a r
has cRuMbLeD her spirit, leaving
her a shadow of her former self;
a ghost left to drift on the edge
of life's rugged cliffs, r o t t e d by
the siren of negative words

(28 lines)