“A body at rest, stays at rest …”.

I fall asleep waiting for you.

Against my fear, but I am just so, so tired.

 

“… Unless a force exerts itself, …”

You wake me up with one wrench of my hair,

And a backhand across my face.

 

“… While a body in motion, stays in motion …”

I scramble to get up without a word,

Trying to show no sign of impertinence, or pain.

 

“… Until a force exerts itself.”

I rush to get your cold plates to the microwave,

Until your ankle trip, and I meet gravity,

And all is still.

 

“If force is mass x acceleration, then the greater the mass of the object being accelerated, the greater the force required.”

I disagree with Newton here.

For the slightest motion of your wrist,

Makes me flinch, and jump, and react, immediately.

 

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

I try to push my bulk off the linoleum

With all the strength I can muster,

As you laugh at my agony.

 

“Gravity is the force that pulls objects together, and the further the distance between objects, the smaller that force.”

If fear compels me to stay with you,

Would not running away reduce that fear?

And yet, it is that fear

Which keeps me hostage.

 

I have not finished high school,

But I know these Laws of Motion and Gravity

All so well.

 

I am numb to the pain,

Impervious to the humiliation,

And resigned to the indignity of my life with you.

 

© 2017 S Phua

 

(Author’s note: Apologies for taking liberties with Newton’s Laws.)