Sam Hamill

 

I found Sam Hamill's essay very strong and very opinionated. I had a difficult time relating it to the poetry that I read under the poetry and witness tab but I was able to relate a lot of his beliefs with my personal life. I watched my mother be abused for seven years when I was a young girl and it was one of the most difficult things I have had to deal with. I never understood why she wouldn't leave him and get us somewhere safe, I'm sure that is what a lot of people don't understand but it is like an addiction. My mother would call my grandmother sometimes after he would hit her and tell her the situation and my grandmother would say "No he didn't, you're lying." Like Sam Hamill said about not believing what the real world is really like and that we create a different reality for ourselves, my grandmother did not want to believe that her daughter was being abused.

This essay really brought back a lot of powerful memories for me and it is so sad to think that so many people have to go through this everyday. Hamill is right about us not stopping to think about all of the battered women and children that need our help, yet a lot of us would not stop to give them the time of day. I just hope and pray that our generation can have the courage to change the way our society blocks out the reality of what is going on in our world.

Here is a link for online support for abused victims.
This is the website for the Sam Hamill image.
This is the website for the abuse image.