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Angela Sargent hopes her new book of poetry makes it into the hands of those who need it most: women who are being abused. The survivor of domestic violence has published "Rituals of Season," a book of poems that document her experience.

The Rockville resident dedicates the book "to those who are suffering through physical, verbal or mental abuse now, you should know that you are a valuable creature who does not deserve to be treated with anything less than respect."

She proceeds to urge them to seek help.

"Keeping silent about it is the most powerful weapon a violent partner can use against you. If the police aren't called, they can't help. If friends, family, a trusted coworker, a minister, or someone else isn't told, they can't help."

Domestic abuse "is not something that cares about what color you are, how old you are or how rich or poor you are," Sargent observes. "It affects everyone." She cites a study that revealed that one in three women worldwide endure some kind of abuse during their lives.

One needs only to read the titles of the poems, which include "Sex with a Sociopath," "Soulmate," "Escape" and "Lover's State of Mind," to get a glimpse of the complexity of her emotions.

In "Letter to the Ex," Sargent expresses her feelings about her former husband and the dissolution of their marriage.

"Been 10 years / Long / and in court / you still fighting me / with paper work and lies / Used to be / night before a court date / Fear would slide under my / Bedroom door / get in bed with me / press on my lungs the whole night thru / Nightmares of / how your next scheme / might play itself out / in front of a man who didn't know / or care nothin' about me and my baby"

Sargent's favorites are "Asking the Walls" and "The Collage." While the former mirrors the feelings of going crazy she experience while being abused, the latter captures the healing she has undergone and the gratitude she feels for having gotten out of the situation alive.

Sargent's descriptions of her abuse, which began shortly after the marriage, are horrific. Her ex-husband punched her in the stomach when she was pregnant with their son, threw her up against the car and threatened routinely to have her killed. She left and went back to him several times; after all, she says, he was the father of her child and she had taken an oath before God when she married him.

"I still loved him," she says.

Sargent kept the abuse from her parents, where she would go when she left, until her mother witnessed an incident. Once the secret was divulged, she managed to record his threats and a judge granted her sole custody of their son.

"I was tired of being afraid of being in my own house," she explains, pointing out that women stay in such relationships

because their abusers wear them down emotionally and make them feel worthless.

"After hearing those things day in and day out, year after year, you start to believe them," she says.

She credits her very supportive parents for helping her get through her darkest times. The writing process was therapeutic as well.

Although Sargent currently works as a defense contractor for the Army, she hopes one day to make writing her profession. In terms of this self-published effort, though, her motivation is the book's potential to help women like herself rather than making a profit. To the abused woman who reads it, she says, "I just hope it gives her hope that if I can make it out, she can make it out, too."

"Rituals of Season" can be purchased at major online booksellers and at www.authorhouse.com. The National Domestic Violence Hotline number is 1-800-799-SAFE.