One reason I started
writing about my own experiences of being abused was to give a voice to those
who are still afraid to speak out…
I
was one of them for most of my life. It was not until I reached my
sixties that my outrage overcame my fears. It took me a long time to reach the
point where I could tell my truth, and poetry is the only vehicle I have been
able to use to reach the larger world.
Child/Self
is my one and only prose poem. It is a perspective on the lifelong damage
of child abuse, an attempt to show how survivors can become emotionally stuck
in one part of their development and continue to grow in others. I am in
my seventies now, and am still impacted by my childhood abuse every day.
I
know the subject of child abuse is a tough one, but it is so prevalent and
damaging in our society. I very much hope my words will help other survivors to
speak out in their own ways.
Child/Self
by Margaret Vidale
Two
daughters followed tradition’s path,
leading
to grownup lives in the outside
world. My third child, however, refuses to
leave
home. Her fear and neediness
exhaust
me. She stopped growing around
age
three, when she let herself realize
no one
was going to protect her. That’s when
she
melded to me, insisting I carry her
for
the rest of our lives. It’s a daily struggle
to
pull myself away, inch by resistant
inch. Sometimes I just give up and read her
poetry;
she likes Anne Sexton and Chase
Twichell.
When we’re having bad dreams,
Brahms’
Lullaby soothes us back to sleep.
Over
the years I’ve managed to increase
the
distance between us. Recently I’ve
let
her
float on her own for hours. I’m trying
to convince
her that by freeing me, she also
frees
herself. She doesn’t buy it, though.
She
scrunches up her small, pale face and
wails,
a shrill and forlorn plea. So I
pick
her
up and kiss the soft part on top of her
head. What else can I do? I’m all she’s got.
~
(EDITOR'S NOTE: If you, or someone you know, is recovering from sexual abuse and trauma, I highly recommend my friend Kylie Dasi's new book 'Recovering The Spirit From Sexual Trauma: From the Traumatic to the Ecstatic' available here.)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: If you, or someone you know, is recovering from sexual abuse and trauma, I highly recommend my friend Kylie Dasi's new book 'Recovering The Spirit From Sexual Trauma: From the Traumatic to the Ecstatic' available here.)
Margaret Vidale returned to her childhood love of writing poetry when she retired from teaching in 2001. Growing up, reading and writing poetry were ways of escaping severe child abuse. Many of her early adults poems were efforts to break the silence she carried for most of her life. Writing those poems was healing and liberating, which enabled Margaret to branch out into a wider range of subjects. She feels fortunate and grateful that some of her work has appeared In Pearl, Solstice, Sol-Lit, The Whirlwind Review, Avocet, The Caribbean Writer, Still Crazy and other small press publications.
~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~
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