I Understand Now

I’m in my late twenties.
When I was 5 years old,
Something happened that made me quite mad at my parents.
I saw baba beating mama.
I remember sitting on the floor in their room crying,
terrified of the violence I was witnessing.
She fell next to me when he was beating her.

He still beats her until now,
And she still isn't doing anything about it.
I don’t think he’s a respectable father,
And I don’t think she’s a mother who’s making sacrifices,
For the sake of her family.
If I hadn’t been aware of issues like domestic violence and abuse,
I would’ve believed that all that humiliation and abuse is normal.
My mama is passive and helpless.
My baba is physically and verbally abusive.

I hope anyone who’s going through a similar experience,
Understands that this is violence,
Not anything else.
This is not manly.
Him being a father, doesn’t make it okay to practice verbal and physical abuse .
This is not love.
Nor is it just a bit of anger,
Nor is it something that he “didn’t mean to do.”

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