I witnessed this many years ago. That moment in time has never left me…
Please God don’t leave me!
I stood in the darkest corner of my lawn
As always trying not to be seen by those that wander the streets at night
I heard the cries before I saw the woman
A lone man was making haste towards what he would consider
His freedom
A woman close behind blinded by her tears staggers in his wake
Pleading over and over not to go
Pleading for him to stay with her
For better or for worse
Please don’t go
Please don’t leave me
Please oh God please
I’ll do anything you want
I’ll buy you anything you want
I stood in the shadows watching with distaste
Distaste more for myself
Than for her hollow pleas
As they past I could see his empty soul
Feel the love as it drained out onto the street
I watched as she battled in vain to keep the man that no longer loved her
I watched as they both ignored the boy that remained behind them both
She didn’t care for his safety
Paying him no attention as she begged for salvation
His small voice crying into the coming night for his mother to come back home
Cars passed close by
So close the child staggered back in sudden amazement at just how far into the road they had gone
Once again he runs for his mothers leg
Once again she ignores him
On they go down the road as her begging increases
On they go as her son becomes that much more a man
A man before his time
Standing defiant he tells her to stop her crying
Indifferent to his age she tells him to keep quiet
So young
Yet with a mother younger than himself
So uncaring of her child will she make a display of herself to all around
So uncaring of her child would she put a man before him
So selfish
So lost
So sad
So sad for the child