I pull up to the stop sign
Will I change my mind?
I have done this before
And returned once more
I sit for a while and stare
Remembering the care
You so seldom gave
You were always so angry
Time and time again
I made excuses back then
Hateful words I can recall
The bruises and the falls
Will I now turn around
Go homeward bound?
No, this time it is for good
I am leaving this neighborhood
Leaving behind the abuse
Like a horse on the loose
Memories in the rearview
I will never, ever forget you
Photo Credit: Anne Worner Flickr via Compfight cc
Mary Penner
Mary Penner has written poetry since the age of ten. She has always enjoyed telling human interest stories through rhyme and has recently begun writing stories in prose form. For twenty-five, Mary was a social worker and educator specializing in family and school counseling. She taught in elementary schools and in universities where she designed and facilitated the Program Planning Course. Mary's poems have been published in three anthologies: including two of Polar Expressions Collections of Canadian Poetry: Let's Fly Away, in 2017; Overture, in 2016. Mary is also a contributing Author in We are the Wordsmiths: A Collection of Short Stories and Poetry, 2017 (Albatross Publishing). Also in 2017, Mary was one of the adjudicators of the South Simcoe Arts Council's Creative Works Writing Contest. Most recently, Mary wast the Audience Prompter in the play Saving Grace: A Victorian Melodrama by a fellow Wordsmith member.