No Justice

Twenty-eight and I still can’t hold down a stable relationship
Because every time he touches me I feel that anger swell
and think to myself “get your fucking hands off me”
So uncomfortable in my own skin
I want to crawl out

And he,
the culprit, my step-father
is living in a mess
Two-story old apartment
Dilapidated building
Destroyed marriage
The only person in our family that talks to him
is my younger sister

She, at 11, had to hear all the gory details
and listen to him come apart
He pleaded to her like she was the
Judge and the jury
And she felt like she couldn’t
Possibly decide between us,
Couldn’t possibly take sides

And my mother thinks
I put her on trial
Drummed up a witch hunt
Sentenced her to a lifetime of guilt
She reminds me often
That she was trapped,
That he beat her into submission

She doesn’t realize that
I don’t want the power to sentence
I don’t want to deal with dolling out blame
I wanted
I needed help and validation and a voice
But it’s too late now

Everywhere I turn
There is no justice,
No justice,
No justice.