She Dreams by Terri Lanahan

Hi! I am an adult Survivor of CSA and this is one of my poems. Writing poetry was instrumental in my healing. She Dreams She dreams of a life without any tears.She dreams that someone will take away her fears.She prays that the abuse will end.She prays that her heart will mend.She wonders why no […]

Untitled 2 by JT

There Is No Cure by Crash

There Is No Cure PTSD, MST, Bi-polar, Manic Depressive, Schizophrenia! How would you like to be diagnosed with all these, at different times in your life? How would your mind handle the changing of medication on a consistent basis, not for the wellness of your mental health but, because the physician has no clue what […]

A Woman Like Me by Yvette Dove

A Woman Like Me You don’t want to fall for a woman like me.I have scars marked so deep that you can not see.They are hidden away, buried beneath the skin,How would I show you? Where would I begin? Do I begin at the start? Back to early years?Do I begin explaining? What’s behind my tears?Do […]

A Father’s “Love” by Mike Chapman

**This poem is both graphic and descriptive of the abuse I experienced, but I have avoided vulgar language.** First, let me give you some background… When I was 30 (I am in my late-50s now), I uncovered repressed memories of being sexually abused by my father at age 3. In 2019, I sought out additional […]

Ugly Dress by Elizabeth Shane

Ugly Dress Pretty with flowers, liberating and freeLots of movement for the eye to seeA little girl’s dream to wear such a dress, but under the layers she cries in distress All severed and torn, damaged and shaken for her childhood innocence has now been takenNo longer simple and worn in vain she now tries […]

Follow Me. by Ollie

Follow me. I remember the flowers were budding that year,My 9th birthday had just passed in the third grade,A marvelous day.The sun was shining,My friends were laughing and I had met a new friend,I just love new people they always teach me something new,Something I’m sure I would love, right? At least that’s what I […]

Beauty of a Broken Woman by Rebecca Rojas

Gravel by Willow Moon

This is a poem I wrote that is about being sexually assaulted as a child and the shame that I felt. It’s a blend of emotions and past traumatic events. GravelByWillow Moon Forced down without a breath.Stunned.Frozen in time.Pain.Gravel imbedded in my knees, my mind left this world.Forced down.Forced down.Forced down.Replayed like a broken record […]

Healing My Life from Incest to Joy by Donna Jenson

About the Book Healing My Life: from Incest to Joy is a deeply personal story that explores the sexual violence Jenson endured at the hands of her father, the refusal of her family to acknowledge her pain, and a rocky escape as a teenager from the Midwest to start anew in sixties-era California. Jenson’s big-hearted […]

Tag Archives: Survivors’ Arts & Music