Home » Survivors Speak ~ Art, Music, Poetry, Photography and Other Original Creative Works by Child Sexual Abuse Survivors
Survivors Speak Arts Blog
Following are original creative works that CSA survivors have been gracious enough to share publicly. We thank them for their courage to speak out, and hope that their art will help others heal, as it has helped each of them on their own path to recovery and ongoing into their lives.
I tried to give them shelter, I invited them all inside. I sent out the invitations, “Come one, come all”; no pride. I never asked for rent, not once; a drink at most would do. I’d then hand them the keys to the kingdom, to do with...
My body knows a pain within,it draws it out upon my skin. Upon my wrists I’m forced to see,how hard the ropes have pulled on me.The red marks on my knee they label,how pressure burns pressed on a table. Redness on my thighs submit,a full-grown...
Dandelion seeds and lavender.. Breathe in.. Breathe out.. You are moving.. You are healing.. You are working through this process we call recovery. Keep breathing. Keep moving…...
Skipping across the street.Little hands wrapped around mommy’s finger.Hurry, don’t be late.Quickly Cross the street. Little Hands clutch Mommy’s leg.Mommy is talking. I can’t see the ladies.The desk is too tall.I am too small...
This is something I wrote for the members of my support group: This place is beautiful but also sad. We make useful of something oh so bad. We feel disrupted, corrupted, silenced and blamed, subjected to ridicule, violence and shame. We tell our...
*Rated: Adult Language There is a difference between hate and anger,Hate has a shorter reason,But always has the taste and is always stronger.Anger simmers deeper,It usually is formed by a secret,Isn’t that right? If I hated you,I would have your...
Wanted to share this with you. . . I have been broken but I haven’t been beatI have spoken and I won’t admit defeat,faced my enemy and I faced my fearno matter what he did to me I’m still herehe took away my youth and he took away my...
Notes from Mary about this video: My friend George Robinson put together this song of my work. I met him at his Healing through Creativity festival in West Virginia which I have attended for about 4 years. My very close friend, artist Michal Madison...
About the Creator I’m a wife, mother, and grandmother who has lived with the wounds of CSA my whole life. When I began therapy, writing was the only way I could express myself. Now it has become a solid part of my therapy, and sharing is part...
Remember this song? Alanis very clearly states in interviews that it was part of her healing from a relationship with an older man that she was “unprepared to deal with at the time” (She was 14.) Note the verse lyrics are very standard...
Goodbye child meyou were so very unluckytreated like a rag dollgrow up, stumble and fallI am grown up now, child mefinding my own happylost without your memoryyou will heal child meyou will find your inner strengththat love does exist at any...
Thank you Mary Ann for being brave and sharing your story. We hope through this difficult task of finally allowing yourself to be fully seen, you have found peace and healing; and we know that sharing your story will inspire and empower others to...
It wasn’t just the physical abuse and emotional neglectMy innocence was just another thing to collectSick adults creating sick childrenSick individuals harming their own brethrenThere is no justice for a stolen childhoodThere is only pain and...
What really happens behind closed doors is based on the life experiences of Author, E Morrell. Morrell published the book to help others know that they are not alone and to encourage survivors to talk about their experiences with a trusted confidant...
Thank you R.A. Dickey for sharing your story. As a public figure, your voice can do much to empower our youth to speak up if they are being abused and also to empower adult survivors to be brave and break their silence as well. In his book...
Wow! What a powerful testament to what it means to be a child sexual abuse survivor, look your abuse in the face, and choose to know that you are worthy, you are special and you are loved! Enjoy this great faith-based spoken word performance from a...
The drawings below were created by a woman we’ll call Suze, who used art as an adjunct to her therapy process. Suze experienced severe abuse as a child, including child sexual abuse and ritual abuse by a cult. She used a combination of art and...
The world in which I existed left me warped and twisted, broken, and scared, words left unspoken cause it’s hard to cope with the past, alcohol wears off and the dope don’t last. I was that quiet child with tears in his eye, and fears in...
I had to touch her heartThe child in meHer whole world ripped apartThe child in meTo find her buried under my tearsThe child in meTo help her face her fearsThe child in meNow she shines from withinThe child in meEvery obstacle she will battle and...
I wrote this poem back in 2014. As a survivor of child abuse, I wanted to reach out to others. My friend George Robinson put together this song of my work. I met him at his Healing through Creativity festival in West Virginia which I have attended...
*Rated: Adult Language What I wrote when a guy online said he was glad it happened to me: It’s easy to judge and hard to relate, I’m hard to love and so easy to hate, hard to defend, easy to be attacked, I’m too busy defending to...
This piece came about during a 9th step (amends) process in recovery. My sponsor said that before anyone else, I needed to make an amends to myself, noting any way in which I had harmed myself physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc. The abuse was...
I was raped when I was 15 and 4 months later he raped me again causing a miscarriage of my unknown pregnancy by him. This poem is about the loss of my baby and innocence. Send me back my rainbowThat you killed so long agoI’ve wondered about it...
In recent weeks, I’ve discovered how hard it is to overcome emotions and any fears I have. In my drawings, I find I can switch off, but also use my creative time to figure out what is going on inside myself. Sometimes it gets the frustration out, but...
We had the privilege of meeting this author last night on our interview with the NAASCA SCAN blogtalk radio show. Thank you, Mary, for your commitment to healing and sharing your story with others. We commend you. About the Author Mary HavensAuthor...
Could she have done something? It’s too late now to tell. Too late to go back. She’s gone forward, for sure. More than most. But she still feels it. Fear can’t seem to escape her coursing bloodstream. She wants someone to hold her. To protect her...
Every time I sing this song I am reminded of the sweetness of happy, healthy romantic love. In the past, my understanding of love was pretty much synonymous with pain, loss or longing. However, a few years ago, I decided I was not going to play that...