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# The power lies in your hands.
- URL: https://things-i-never-said.ghost.io/the-power-lies-in-your-hands/
- Published: 2026-09-13T19:57:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-23T00:22:55.000Z
- Description: What happens when someone takes everything you thought you were?
- Author: Shannon Brookes
- Tags: Poetry, Dark, intimate, Abuse, Identity

With each strike of your fist,  
I cower and beg for mercy.

Vile torrents of hatred spew from your lips.

Each thunderous stamp of your foot,  
splintering the bones encasing my heart.

Your maniacal cackle as I plead for pity.

Stammering my apologies,  
no longer sure what I am sorry for.

You, like a child at play.  
Gleeful and carefree, so animated  
as you take the last vestiges of me.

Slowly stripped of ‘titles’ that once defined me.

Lover, Husband, Dad, Man.

How do I go on?  
Don't know if I can.

***If you're not ready to leave just yet...***

[**The Faint, Small Smile.**](https://things-i-never-said.ghost.io/the-faint-small-smile/)   
*For the tiny moments of light that survive even in difficult places.*

[**Reasons I'm Leaving**](https://things-i-never-said.ghost.io/reasons-im-leaving/)  
*Sometimes leaving is the beginning of finding yourself again.*

[**Things I Never Said**](https://things-i-never-said.ghost.io/things-i-never-said/)  
*For the words that stay inside us long after we've stopped speaking them.*

[**Keep reading Shannon's words →**](https://things-i-never-said.ghost.io/)

*Thank you for reading.* 
*— Shannon x*