I Didn't Know The Signs

​I remember it like it was yesterday. Being threatened in private and slapped in public. Being punched repeatedly because I said "No."  The night I tried to fight back but gave up and ran all the way home (over a mile) - from 21st & Van Pelt to 32nd & Euclid Street. The time he came to my job at the phone center store, threatened me in front of my coworkers, and how the elderly security guard, Mr. Smitty, coming to my defense. Being threatened with a knife when I tried to break up with him and being stalked and harassed when I finally did.  It took my uncles and my father to make him finally leave me alone. 

Thankfully my horror story ends there.  If not for God's grace and mercy, it would have been different. Though my heart was far from Him,  God was watching over me, protecting me when I rejected Him. Is it any wonder I love him so?

​Inspired by my mother, a Domestic Violence survivor who has been an advocate in the church and community for women and children in crisis for 20 years, I completed a training course with the N.J. Coalition to End Domestic Violence and became a certified Domestic Violence Response Team Advocate.

Inspired by God to write about my experiences, I published  The Writing Was On The Wall (Recognizing The Warning Signs of Dating Abuse) and Words Will Never Hurt Me (Overcoming Childhood Memories of Domestic Violence).

My mission is to spread awareness about dating and domestic violence by sharing resource & referral information, as well as my own story of survival through poetry readings, workshops, lectures, and one-on-one. 

October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The National Hotline for Domestic Violence is 1-800-799-9090. The National Number for Dating Violence is 1-866-331-9474.  You can also text "loveis" to 22522.  

Find out more at www.ncadv.org, www.loveisrespect.org, www.njcedv.org, and www.womenagainstabuse.org. 

And I am always here if you need me.

Patricia Middleton
856-553-POET (7638)



I DIDN’T KNOW THE SIGNS* (by Patricia Middleton)

He was big and dark like a teddy bear,
I fell for all his lines,
I thought he really loved me,
I didn’t know the signs.

He was jealous of all my friends,
He checked up on me all the time,
I just thought he was a little possessive,
I didn’t know the signs.

The first time that he hit me,
He quickly apologized,
He even cried and his tears were real,
I didn’t know the signs.

Next time around I’ll be careful,
I’ll be patient and I’ll be wise,
I’ll think with my head and not my heart,
Because now I know the signs.  
  

*Excerpt From THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL 
 Poetricia Publishing © 2013

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