“I Hate You So Bad” by R. Jackson

Rhonda Jackson, a seasoned community engagement consultant and Senior Fellow at the Family Homeless Coalition, serves as Co-chair of the NYC Fund to End Youth and Family Homelessness. A certified Master Coach specializing in mindfulness and trauma intervention, Rhonda is also a Family Peer Advocate and vital member of Families Together New York State Healthy Minds Healthy Kids campaign. Co-founder of IMANATION, a grassroots initiative advocating for change, Rhonda draws from her personal experiences to address the impact of homelessness on children. A former Metropolitan Transit Authority employee, her work with the Family Homelessness Coalition focuses on creating sustainable programs for housing stability, life skill training, and resources for families in need. Rhonda’s projects include the Parent2Parent Peer Support network and the Hear Our Voices initiative.

I hate you so bad

Data and statistics are not people and these representations are tools we use to analyze these aspects of human experiences.
Sexual exploitation and abuse thrive in dark and quiet places, our minds especially when we try and make sense of Why -we or they stay.

In shadows deep, where secrets hide, A tale of love and pain abide, “I hate who you are,” I’d often cry,
Yet lmy ove, it seemed, would not die.
Your words, like venom, would sting so deep, In the night, my lonely secrets keep,

But when you hold me in your embrace, All my defenses would start to erase. “I hate who you are,” I’d softly say,
But the touch of your hand, so tender and warm, Could calm the wildest, raging storm. What is this madness, this twisted dance, Of love and hate, a cruel romance?

For in your arms, I’d find my peace, Yet in your words, my heart would cease. “I love what you do to me,” I’d confess, In the moments of love, I’d acquiesce, But when the dawn broke and clarity reigned, The truth of your actions, my heart’s pain.

In this ballad of love so strange, Where hearts and minds entwined exchange, A paradox of emotions, tangled and scarred, In the depths of our love, forever marred. For love’s a force that can both hurt and heal, A double-edged sword, it’s both woe and weal,
“I hate who you are,” I’d sometimes cry, But in the end, I couldn’t say goodbye.

In the twilight’s glow, we danced this song, A love so right, yet profoundly wrong, For in your arms, I found my light, But in your darkness, I lost my sight.
So here i stand, in love’s cruel snare, A love too heavy to bear, “I hate who you are,” I’d softly sigh, But in my heart, I question will you’ever truly die.

From the Editor:

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