Tuesday

There’s a line in a ‘90s action movie,
corny and based on a video game,
where the bad guy tells an outraged femme
that when he graced her village, for her
it was the most important day
of her entire life. But for him it was Tuesday.

Abuse can work like that. A punch, a jibe,
a thousand little cruelties
can make a personality,
so even years later, the woman jumps
at slamming doors, the man avoids romance.
But all those days, for those whose ways
are baked in violence, were mere Tuesdays.