CRUSHED

He sat still, feeling small.
He held himself together.
Though deep inside, he was shaking like a leaf.

Each word she spat out was like venom.
The things she said lacerated him.
They shattered his already wounded heart.

She forged on with sadistic relish.
She dished criticism and insult all in one platter.
She spat vitriol, and it was like water off a duck’s back to him.

Then she dropped the atomic bomb.
It exploded his armor.
It shredded his soul.

He stood abruptly.
His eyes haggard, lost, and broken.
He disbelieved what he had heard.

How could she have gone so low?
Why did she dredge filth and fling it at him?
He had ignored most of her remarks, but not this one.

She had broken the foundation that made him who he was.
He left, removing himself from her toxic presence. He looked for a place to lick his wounds in private.

He needed to put together the splintered pieces of his heart, his esteem, and his self-worth.