Trauma Poems
She searches for light
by Nichole Lorah
She's awaken by fear.
Dreams become all too real.
She wakes with a scream, gasping for just one normal breath of air.
Sweat dripping down her face.
All she can hear is the sound of her heart beating in her ears.
Chest becomes heavy -- room pitch black.
Nothing to see as she reaches behind her back for her phone. She searches for just a little light.
The fears are real and jerking at her mind. As it wonders and worries it all becomes clear, she forever has to deal with the surreal.
......
march twenty-second, and you
by Tue Dinh
If memories ever come in a can that has to have a shelf life, I hope it’s 10,000 years.
— He Qiwu, from Chungking Express
you told me it’s a ritual taking friends out on their birthdays, and
i must say, with friends, i expected to be surprised by
two you-know-what words, and yet i was surprised
by two cups of kit-kat mcflurry, soft and crunchy mix
with our salty stories of schoolwork, student societies, et cetera—
you with your parents travelling, and mine back in saigon.
......
unlovable trash
by Bogdan Dragos
well
there's plenty of cutesy names to
call one's children
but his was 'unlovable trash'
He remembered it from the time he was in the crib
They held him there
for longer than most parents
held their kids in cribs. Though only dad
called him so
because he constantly claimed he wasn't his
......
childhood’s villain
by Bogdan Dragos
Father used his fists
a lot
Though never on the kids
On the walls
and the furniture
and the doors
and the mailbox
and the fence
and the neighbors
......
for some of that artificial happiness
by Bogdan Dragos
as a kid
there's nothing
like wasting away inside a tiny
room
sitting on the backrest
of the couch
looking out the window
and seeing her
tread through the rain
......
She searches for light
by Nichole Lorah
She's awaken by fear.
Dreams become all too real.
She wakes with a scream, gasping for just one normal breath of air.
Sweat dripping down her face.
All she can hear is the sound of her heart beating in her ears.
Chest becomes heavy -- room pitch black.
Nothing to see as she reaches behind her back for her phone. She searches for just a little light.
The fears are real and jerking at her mind. As it wonders and worries it all becomes clear, she forever has to deal with the surreal.
......
march twenty-second, and you
by Tue Dinh
If memories ever come in a can that has to have a shelf life, I hope it’s 10,000 years.
— He Qiwu, from Chungking Express
you told me it’s a ritual taking friends out on their birthdays, and
i must say, with friends, i expected to be surprised by
two you-know-what words, and yet i was surprised
by two cups of kit-kat mcflurry, soft and crunchy mix
with our salty stories of schoolwork, student societies, et cetera—
you with your parents travelling, and mine back in saigon.
......
mother forbade feeding the poor thing
by Bogdan Dragos
there was a dog outside and it kept
barking for some reason
Ah yes, it was chained
and the chain was terribly short
and the poor animal was hungry
Mother wouldn’t bother feeding it
No, mother wanted it
to die
because it had been father’s dog,
......
childhood’s villain
by Bogdan Dragos
Father used his fists
a lot
Though never on the kids
On the walls
and the furniture
and the doors
and the mailbox
and the fence
and the neighbors
......
The Box
by Estelle Jackson
A rattle; a shudder.
I turn and face... nothing.
For a fleeting moment,
Confusion reigns.
I pause, then pick up
The threads of today.
A life - infused with colour,
Discourse, demands and distractions -
Drowns out what I know deep down is real.
Later, in the stillness,
......
