Tag: domestic abuse
Ghost Weeds (Reclamation)
The screen door swung shut with a muffled wooden bang, and darkness opened up behind me. The well-lit inside world disappeared as I turned...
A legacy of abuse: Telling on my brother
A deathbed confession, 1997 Mom unburdens herself only weeks before she dies. She tells me about Mike’s abuse against his children. Her revelations confirm...
When Mom stood by
Detecting abusers is a complex problem. Who is the real villain in the story? As a survivor of childhood sexual, physical, and emotional abuse,...
Poem for my father
Did you enjoy hitting? My mother, your woman? Did you love shouting? That you never wanted us and to my mother Shut your cake-hole, you mental bitch? As though...
Zyxedarian
Zip code that defined a decade: 98201 You’d think I was in Everett the whole ten years but it was only a fraction of that. Xi...
Dream mother
I had a dream that you were proud of me. You walked next to me and smiled and squeezed my hand, and that’s how I knew it...
Dish towels
The first lesson you taught me was how to fold the dish towels: First in half then one more half, and if I mess it up again, you’ll...
May 5th is Silence the Shame Day
May 5, 2021, is National Silence the Shame Day, a day that aims to end the stigma surrounding mental health. The hope is by...
A woman’s place
Into the mouths of babes, the bottomless craw of a needy child; they cluster at my hip, wanting more. Here, I pay and pay for sins I did...
Recommended Reading
The acknowledgement
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!*
*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
On my street I am witness to the young men who carry the pink-flowered backpacks of little girls, who...
