A Tale of Assault and Battery

I counseled battered women for while during the 80's. It was difficult seeing the kind of pain that both men and women were willing to inflict upon one another. It ripped apart families, permanently damaging children and leaving indelible scars that would never heal.

Inevitably many women went back to their battering husband's and vice versa. Sometimes that ended well enough by their standars. Other times it ended very badly. This is one such tale:

There are no more tears to fall;
And no more bones left to break.
No more dreams to tear apart
And no more mistakes to make.
She opened up and trusted;
Threw her caution to the wind.
He battered her life apart
Till she couldn't rise again.

There are no more smiles to give
And there's no more hope left inside.
She's withdrawn into a shell
Where her soul has gone to hide.
Her eyes have no more light left;
She shivers in abject fright
What's left of the girl she was
Has vanished into the night.

While her life is now over
It seems his begins anew;
Another girl on his arm
And lots more hate left to spew.
To those who might observe him
It would seem as if he's won
But karma has its own way
Of seeing justice is done.

He walks streets alone at night
Without fear for his own life.
That's reserved for her alone
The one he now calls his wife.
A shot rings in the darkness
And he falls flat on his face.
Who made the shot no one knows.
The weapon has left no trace.

Violence begets more violence.
That fact cannot be denied.
The pain it brings overflows
Till there's nothing left inside.
One life for yet another.
Is the cycle ever done?
In the end does it matter?
For no one has really won.