The Wife-Beater's Story

Felix Cheong Seng Fei

When love has no more virgin
land to conquer,

nothing to have and to hold
it to dead centre,

nothing it has not tried
and tired of -- ties that knot
to the bitter end,

childrenıs tantrums by day,
womanıs bark at night
that canıt be tempered
by booze or fuck --

it hollows out, smashing walls
in spite of itself,
rage muscling red
out of windows and faces

till it flares
on the other side of heart,
grief and flesh one
in the dark, subsiding.

Published in Broken by the Rain (2003)

Last Modified: 5 September 2003