Poem: She Is Afraid

She Is Afraid

She did not go the market
on her way home today,
or she did go there,
but she never got inside,
never got out of the car
because she saw 
my brother's car
and so she left.
She does not trust him,
does not want to be near him.
She tells me,
asks if she is being cruel.
I do not want it to be this way,
but I cannot change it,
I only know she is scared.
"You must protect yourself,"
I say, "that is why you left.
It is not cruel."
I wish my brother
had not betrayed us.
I still love him, he is my brother,
but I cannot ask her for the same.
I know.  It is not good.
He needs to understand,
to accept what he has done,
but I know his response
will be to say it is done,
to say it is impossible
for things to be better.
"She doesn't like me,"
he would say.  No,
it is not that she dislikes him,
not that at all.  He broke trust,
did such harm already.
She is afraid
of what might happen
if she gives him a chance
to hurt her again.