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when she’s set free
she still can’t fly

‘cos she has lost
the sense of her wings

his intriguing web of toxic deceit
is far too captivating.

When I saw the prompt,  a ‘lost friend’  came to my mind. She lives in an abusive marriage ‘physical, verbal and mental.’ Every attempt made to help her has never worked out because, for some reason, she simply loves that toxic relationship and keeps finding her way back to more beatings and abuse. I silently wonder what it is that keeps anyone in such a harmful relationship.

I hope that one day she’ll wake up to the truth and walk away before she and the children are damaged beyond repair. In my opinion, her young children have already been far too exposed to the ugliness and it shows in their constant acting out – the 6-year-old son is constantly hitting his younger sisters and getting into fights in school.

Two nights ago she called me and we chatted in whispers ‘she was hiding in the bathroom,’ to escape his berating, hoping that it will subside. I told her to call the police if it gets bad, but I’m done with getting involved and trying to talk some sense into her or to whisk her away to safety only for her to go crawling back to him within hours. It has become a vicious cycle and I’m weary of such nonsense. Short of cutting off our friendship, I can only lend a listening ear, but I have run out of advice for someone who refuses to hear them. For every possible solution that I proffer, she has more problems to counter them.