The police are not coming.
punished, Holt Korea protects
and shames me,
to ask about you.”
have put up with a lot, to
Abandoned. Still punished,
are not worth having.
so I become a quiet stone.
“I had to get you out,
our time is brief, isn’t it?
I count on myself for my safety.
Finally, precious life,
Author’s Note: I wrote “Leaving my Abuser: My Adoptive Father” during a time when I was beginning to understand that being a good girl is based on a system that is, ultimately, set against girls and women. Playing the role comes at too high of a price. And yet, not playing the role can be terrifying and met with an inner resistance. Charged with tension, in this poem, the desire to be free wins out.
Bo Schwabacher is a South Korean adoptee. Her poetry has appeared in diode, Foundry, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Redivider, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, The Offing, and elsewhere. Her book of poems is forthcoming with Tinderbox Editions.