You know those sayings, "no one abuses you without your consent," and "people only continue to do things you allow," ―I found those hard to believe

You see, I bruise black, without any tendency to leave,

Because I never bleed.

Don't get me wrong, I've done some bruising too

Only because I wanted to

You see, I have this long destructive past, so I'm going to give you all of this built up aggression base don something that has nothing to do with you.

Watching this mirror in my Women's Studies classes every Monday and Wednesday 12:30pm-1:45pm showed it all

"My abuse isn't that bad compared to hitting someone," or "I'm only incessantly hurting her feelings, so don't be appalled."

And this was true

I wasn't stealing from her safe, and I didn't make her feel like she wasn't safe, so why should I stop what I do?

I learned more than curriculum, I learned the valur of serenity―granted to accept what I can't change. 

Possession of patience rather than possession over you is what I crave

You appreciate this change and follow suit, and can properly shield my name.

I do not wish to control who I love, for I want you to be you; to be free

I'm not only contributing to myself, but to the lifetimes after me:

Educating others, consciousness raising, so domestic violence ends now

Through literature, I want to convey how to express emotion through nouns,

Verbs, adjectives―real words, rather than insults, fists, or pain.