She could see her breathe in the cold, frigid air of the march morning.
Her dirty sneakers brushed the cement each time she swung her legs impatiently,
Tapping her no longer manicured fingernails on the bench as she waited for the next get away.
Lou had made it perfectly clear whenever he came home, the smell of cheap beer on his breath spilling into the air as he made his rants and blows to her, she needed out.
When they had started to fancy each other, it was like falling in love with spring.
The signs were apparent, the blooming flowers, the hungry robins.
It just got warmer until summer.
Their love was like the sweet treats that belonged to summer.
Their love was like lying down on the warm sand, as the cool water teased your toes,
Their love was like the view from atop the traveling ferris wheel.
But just as fast as the cotton candy disapears as it hits your tongue,
So can the person you once shared it with.
He had his own problems she had not known about.
She was young and naive,
and though she swore years earlier,
that she would not be like the foolish girls of the past,
Summer had faded and the love was cooling into October nights.
He had picked up a new job in town
forgetting the ambitious dreams they once shared.
The boss had bullied him relentlessly,
and he rested in the local bar stool
Coming home to tired for her words
He would bully her, just as the boss had done to her.
The October nights had turned into the freezing, long days of January.
She had seen the warning signs her father had once told her about,
But she thought just as the seasons could change,
So could he.
He had given up on life.
Knowing she would be the only girl to hold him on restless nights,
The threats and bullying got worse,
In fear of her walking out that red door that they had once painted together.
Valentine’s Day had passed uncelebrated,
and the days were bleak for the once optimistic girl.
She had to leave the man she once knew
The bus pulled around the vacant corner,
making its own tired groans at it braked
She climbed onto the stairs
giving the driver some of the money she had managed to keep hidden.
She drooped down into the musty seat,
and pulled out a small mirror to make sure the bruises were still concealed.
The bus pulled away in another moan,
She noticed how bright the sun had shined the March morning,
How it danced playfully in the clouds,
and as she left the only home she had known
she caught a glimpse of spring.