children in bed photo by Annie Spratt

I wanted to be your wall

Do you remember the early years when I pushed my bed between yours and our bedroom door, between Daddy and you, night after night?
state park trees river photo by Ricardo Gomez Angel

How I chase away bad thoughts/ghosts

I imagine an elsewhere far from here.
If the Girl Never Learns poems by Sue William Silverman

If the girl thinks love is here every day!, an excerpt from ‘If the...

She'd translate her body back into its own language, if only she could.
supporting a sexual assault survivor photo by Claudia Wolff featured on Survivor Lit, a literary magazine for sexual assault survivors

You know you want to

They can’t learn to take care of themselves when they were never safe to begin with.
Light from the Shadows by Crystal Whiteaker spoken word poem and photography session by a sexual assault survivor featured on Survivor Lit, a literary magazine for and by sexual assault survivors

Light from the shadows

Before you, I was just finally learning what it meant to truly love me. It felt open and free.
Naked: The rhythm and groove of it. The depth and length to it. By Nastashia Minto

Triggers, an excerpt from ‘Naked’

I walk through life with many others who have faced the same thing. Afraid to share, to speak, because it was me. I could have made better decisions, but that still didn’t give you the upper hand to fucking decide for me.
Haunted image by Stefano Pollio

I was there all along

It was as if I wasn't there at all yet there too much

Recommended Reading

The acknowledgement

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I’m trying to be gentle with myself, but what if I never believe my body when it tells me what happened?

Have the time of your life!*

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*Common side effects may include but are not limited to: harassment, stalking, getting drugged, passing out in...

To the fathers who do not abuse their daughters

2
On my street I am witness to the young men who carry the pink-flowered backpacks of little girls, who...