Husband
Samuel Rucks

I heard his voice after getting home from work.  
I ignored him until I felt his breath on my neck 
and his hands around my wrist. 
 
I was already so tired when he came for me.  
I fell from exhaustion, and he caught me  
by the hair and pulled me out to pasture. 
 
I was about to be a mother, and still, the earth skinned me.  
I dug my heels in deeper, and he pulled me harder  
across our farm, until he came to the tree. 
 
I felt the birth of stars in my eyes and the force of hate. 
I felt the ground blanket me, and I wished for  
my bones to grow sweet tobacco and my skin to grow corn.