• He comes home.
    Another bad day.
    He reaches for the six packs,
    To drive the pain away.

    She's home from school.
    Her raw skin is still sore.
    She prepares for more.

    He rounds on her.
    Empty bottles litter the floor.
    His shouts echo off of them.

    She falls to the floor
    As he lets out his day.
    She learned long ago not to cry.
    It is over.
    She has endured it for the day.
    She walks to her room to check the damage.

    She leads a bruised life.
    Tomorrow will be the same.
    She accepts it.