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The girl was only 7,
When he came into the picture
Bribery by way of sweets
"Now I have her,"
He must have thought,
This was no mere caper
She wonders, now,
if he meant it like that.
But at 7, sugar meant yes

By age 10 her father had left
Gone to another land,
Fortune upon his lips
She cried for days,
She felt alone -
Bereft

The girl was only 11,
when she first thought
"What if I went?"
When even escaping
to magic-filled hardcovers
could not ease her descent

School bullies were not all
That pulled her
Towards the yawning void,
On eggshells she walked
Around him,
Being careful not to flip
His switch
He'll twitch -
See red
It filled her with dread
Better to stay tight lipped -
Better to be
His pet

12 to 14
A good girl
She must be -
But with the exception
Of fake notes
to skip P.E
Her nose buried in books,
Sitting in the nook
Of her mind,
Still dazzled by magic
Adventure
And love,
A soirée
with the feykind

She is 17. Not quite a girl,
He sees this -
A pat on the ***
The not-quite-girl whirls back
"I'm not comfortable with that, "
He looks at her then,
And almost....scoffs
"What? It's just a ****."

Her spine stiffens—
She does not laugh.

And even before this -
Hands on her waist
A hand, resting on her collarbone
Fingers tucked underneath
The collar of her shirt
She moves it away -
He moves it back
There are fingers on her sternum now,
Nearly touching her breast

And then he touched her *******

She was 20. Not a girl anymore
Well, barely.
Legally speaking, she was
Though,
She still felt like the girl
With everything
that had happened;
The tears,
The fear,
The manipulation,
The disrespect,
And apology
After apathetic apology,
She felt stunted
Broken
Her mind, filled with the echoes of
"Cannot" and "Will not."
Biting words, not shouted but sown,
percolated through her every silence.

She had said the words,
not knowing why
Regret blossomed instantaneously
She had given him permission…
but why would he bite?

23 years of age
She works, and she plays
Oh, she plays!
Controller in hand
The Sims is the plan -
A boring play-style, really,
Fulfilling her what if's
Of marital bliss,
What a twist
Cascades of pixelated children
"I think I'll name her
Quellcrist."

They met in her family's
Restaurant kitchen
She, an apprentice chef
She, an absolute gem
She, who would become
The squish

Kindness and honesty
Go such a long way,
It's a pity
It did not happen sooner
The first time
She called her a friend,
She had beamed -
Her eyes truly did
sparkle that day
The decision was made:
This is her person
No spell so emphatic,
No truth quite as static
Because friendship
Truly is magic

24 and a few more
The woman has grown -
Even flown,
In her new normal
Gatherings of friends
Music and dancing
A strange, drunken costume party
At last!
A soirée in the real -
A gentle joy she dared to steal

The woman and the girl
are one in the same
She finds joy in wall rainbows
And loves the rain
She makes crockery
Imprinted with dinosaurs,
She likes shopping at thrift stores
For clothing that screams whimsy -
Beaded necklaces,
dark velvet
And cute embroidery
Videogames
With quests primeval,
And moral threads
That aren’t so medieval
They whisper,
“There’s more to the journey
than simply good vs evil.”

The void still exists
That gaping abyss
Cold as glass,
But weightless -
It does not pull now
She can stare all she likes now
It's all but a fascinating sight
There is no question
Whether to stay,
Or to go
11 was such a long time ago

28 is here
He is still there -
Not far,
But not near
He calls and whistles
Down the street
But she's slipped her collar
There will be no retreat
She is no pet
A stray, one would say
An escapee
From his menagerie

The "favourite" she may have been,
But she had simply
Survived the regime
Note: This poem explores themes of childhood trauma, emotional abuse, and ****** assault. It follows a personal journey through memory, pain, and eventual healing. Please read with care.
Heidi Franke Jun 29
I'm coming back as a tree
I could leave now
For all I care

The tree is an Ash
Sturdily bends in
In the sharpest winter

Breezes blows the boughs
The waves from the Pacific Ocean
Are jealous of her cadence

I'll take my leave now
I've seen all I need to
When you hear the wind look up

I've returned
Rooted, alive, without a care
Let the cages of birds freely fly to me.
If you stop for one second and listen, you might hear the highway breath and creatures sneak. If you listen close enough you might hear yourself inside always seem to scream.

If you were to truly gaze into the mirror you would be terrified. If you were to truly face yourself and tell the difference in your thoughts and the ones that come from outside.
If you were to see the slippery slithering lie you told yourself one to many times. We are but yet inescapable to our fate no matter what place we find to hide.
We cannot out run it and yet we mask it in denial but there is a court date coming and a Judge to sentence you at trial. Will you be found guilty or will you be one of the fortunate ones who were spared, born again with open eyes?

Written by: Ryan Seth Cole
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
Ruben Whitter Feb 24
His fears were eclipsed by crackling amber crystals caressing the plums on each side of his nose, retexturizing the
squelches beneath his marooned tread – cushioning this fallen star as he prepared to grow new roots. Hurricanes of
melody camouflaged his screams with a symphony of vibrato from an overseeing parliament of wise, wide-eyed, totems with infinite flight. Silently, the heavens rinsed the pain from his eyes to sweeten the acorns of lost hope he had
****** upon him as a souvenir from his shipwreck. Depth begets strength to this sapling as he embarked on this
streetified forest through a shimmering of honeycomb and goldenrod shards cutting through crimson flakes as if nature
was stealing pigment from God herself; only rejecting the royalist of purples to comfort peering shining stars as they
witness his resplendence amongst a grounded haze of jewelled apricots greenly repulsed by the sin of gravity.

Imposed poison touch
forced ejection from the womb.
Run! Rebirth? Marooned.
First published in Chappy - Whittword Publications - 2022
showyoulove Dec 2024
I'm coming home to a place that I once knew
I'm coming back to something that was true
I stopped running away when I got so tired
I turned around: it was all that love required
You were waiting for me with arms wide open
You paid it no heed how I had been broken
I never knew you could love me just as I am
I never realized how much I was like a lamb
I never thought you ever really cared
I never felt you near when I was scared
I ran away and slammed the door
I shut you out and wanted nothing more
I felt abandoned, betrayed, cold and alone
But the last thing I wanted was to come back home
You still want me: the world's biggest fool
You picked me, a tiny fish in a great big pool
You chose me from the very beginning
You look at me and can't stop grinning
I find myself standing at a crossroads
Left or right follow where the wind blows
Looking down dusty road and faded track
One step, two step: I'm on my way back
I'm headed back home again this day
How will it be and what will the people say
Lord, what I need is a brand-new start
For family is home and home is in the heart
050724

Ilang araw na akong namamahinga
At napapaisip ako sa Iyong pagbabalik.
Nais ko nang umuwi —
Nais ko nang magpasakop sa Liwanag.

Ang mga kapagalan ,
Ay magiging luma kinabukasan
At sa pagsipol ng hanging humihinga sa Lilim
Ay mapapawi ang anumang pait
Na mitsa ng pagkagunaw ng bawat pananaw.

Hahalik sa Kanyang mga palad
Na tila walang ibang iniirog —
Walang ibang sandata
Kundi ang pamanang
Yaman ay matatagpuan sa Kanyang mga Salita.

At walang silid na makakalimot
Sa mga burda ng Kanyang pagkalinga.
Lilisan at magbabalik —
Paparating na Siya.
021924

Itikom aking bibig
Nang Sayo’y mamahinga.
Isip ko’y Iyong pagharian
At muling awitan ng Iyong pagsinta.

Ilang dekada na’y
Nanatili Kang tapat —
Ni hindi ka nagkulang,
Ikaw ay naging sapat.

Paano nga ba ako hihinto?
Kung Ikaw ang aking Kalakasan.
Bakit nga ba ako mapapagod?
Kung Ikaw rin ang aking uuwian.

Tatahan ang aking mga mata,
Pagkat Ikaw ang aking Tahanan.
Ikaw ang Simulang
Walang katapusan.

At balang araw,
Sa isang kurap
At sa isang iglap lamang —
Ang lahat ay alaala na lamang.
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