the memory is an old one I am 16 maybe 17 deeply asleep in my bedroom my sanctuary someone is touching me caressing my body kissing my mouth I cannot open my eyes I cannot move at all I fight against the sleep holding me in a vice grip panicked trying to rouse myself as … Continue reading Anatomy of a Flashback
thunder has been rumbling for the last few weeks under my skin hair stands up on the back of my neck my arms a storm has been brewing I am edgy uncomfortable reality keeps twisting a Dali landscape I keep ending up in the lost and found bin voiceless disoriented unable to account for all … Continue reading Pins and Needles
This poem was original published on Whisper and the Roar I am in my child welfare class in graduate school the room is full class starts at 4 pm it is dim warm my classmates and I are drowsy longing for a snack some caffeine unexpectedly the professor puts on a film a surprisingly graphic … Continue reading Child Welfare
suddenly unsettled when healing hands touch left side of bare abdomen images of stray cocks and cocked guns fill my head crowding out other more mundane thoughts unsure if these moving pictures that shrink me down to size belong to me bear my childhood initials buried memories floating to the surface from released fascia or … Continue reading Muscle Memory
my world spins out of control I am in the center of a tornado flashback dig sharp fingernails into tender palms leave angry thin red ovals in my flesh pain is grounding when I can control it try to corral my rushing thoughts bring them back here to now away from there from then focus … Continue reading I Choke on Breath and Bone
soft hand in velvet glove holding the still smoking gun that triggered me did not mean any harm and yet . . . the hole in my gut leaks blood dark crimson that spreads like spilled ink it was a clean shot through and through that caught me unaware crushed bone and memory create the … Continue reading Trigger Finger
Brave & Reckless 