Poetry by Janel Comeau

/in

My Hope for You

you will leave him the first time it happens


you’ll be gone by the end of the day 

not into a bed at some shelter 

but moved into your very own place


you will leave him the first time it happens


because somebody taught you the signs

you know it’s the start to a cycle 

and you don’t wait around for next time


you will leave him the first time it happens


you have all the money you need 

you always kept some in your own name

long before you decided to flee


you will leave him the first time it happens


you will pack up the children and go 

and from then on they only know safety

no court sends them back to his home


you will leave him the first time it happens


and you tell everyone why you left 

they never once claim that you’re lying

they all trust that you know him the best


you will leave him the first time it happens


you simply go on with your life 

and it’s everything you ever dreamed of

now that you’re no longer his wife

Janel Comeau is a writer, illustrator, comedian and youth worker currently residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Eavesdrop Magazine, Write or Die Magazine, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal, The Ana, Ink in Thirds, and several fine anthologies. She is also a regular contributor to the Canadian satire news publication The Beaverton.