Looking to Bounce Back

“Hey babe, can you give me a loan?”
He asks an allowance cloaked as a loan
Carrying him on waitress tips makes me moan

“Naw,” I answer, “the bank’s tapped out
You’ll have to stay in instead of go out”
But he slaps me hard and begins to shout

“Give me the money, all your cash!”
Ransacks the room, “Give me your cash!”
Screams, “give it or I’ll take you out like the trash”

He heads for the kitchen to the cookie jar
Knows I keep extra in that old cookie jar
By the time he returns I’ve started my car

I’m already halfway down the street
Mama’s house is far down the next street
I look back and he’s chasing in bare feet

This was the last straw and he knows
No more chances, I know he knows
I won’t take his temper or his blows

I’ve seen his sweet side and love’s word
But I have my limits so no love’s my word
No more chances this strike’s your third

My mama didn’t raise no fool
You had your shot but I won’t play the fool
I can’t abide a man who’s willfully cruel

Starting over without you
Take it or leave it – you do you
I’ll bounce back because we’re through!

This is my attempt at a Blues Stanza for the NPM22 Flex Scavenger hunt using prompt #6 -Write a Blues Stanza or write a poem using the theme of resilience. This form was derived from late 19th century Afro-American lamentation and sadness but can be either sarcastic or ironic as well. There are no limits to the number of stanzas and there is no required meter. The structure consists of 3 line stanzas in a monorhyme. The first 2 lines are a phrase and a rephrase of the topic and share the same end word. When diagramed looks like: AAa, BBb, CCc, DDd,…

The problem of domestic violence is found in every city, every state, every single country on the planet. I have read so many news articles about women being battered and beaten and yet they remain with their abuser. Too often they have nowhere to go and such a sense of helplessness that they cannot imagine any escape. I applaud women who are able to leave those types of relationships and forge a new life…