Ashtray

A cigarette dangled from his lips
as he entered the room.
His brooding scowl
scared her into immediate silence.
She knew tip-toeing carefully
around his mood
was the least perilous path.
Must try avoiding the virulent violence
hovering on the horizon.
Anything,
any minuscule misstep
would be a mistake.
She stared at her feet.
Quietly waiting.
He slapped her
with meeting the floor force.
Straddled her prone body,
smirked and ground his cigarette
into her swelling cheek.
Her scream softened
into a whimper.
She wiped away the blistering ash.