Thanks.

Content note: Some poems in this collection explore themes of childhood abuse, trauma, mental health & recovery. While these pieces are deeply personal, they are shared with the hope of raising awareness, encouraging understanding & reminding others that healing is possible.

A deeply personal poem reflecting on the lasting impact of childhood abuse, betrayal & trauma. It explores the emotional wounds carried into adulthood while giving a voice to the pain, fear & unanswered questions that so many survivors live with.

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Here’s to the monster that broke my heart. Rained down pain and traumatised me, right from the start.

Thanks for making me not be able to ever trust again. It’s all down to you ‘dad’, that I cannot, be fully comfortable with men.

If it wasn’t for you, I may have been able to progress but as time goes on, all I do is regress.

Thanks to the broken home you provided—does it make you feel great? That deep down inside—all I feel is hate?

Thanks for beating me black and blue and for constantly putting me down. It’s your fault I get depressed and sometimes wish to drown.

How can you possibly ever justify all of the things you have done? I’ve told a small percentage but still haven’t even begun.

There’s so much more that I can ever possibly say but slowly and surely, I will tell it—day by day.

I hope you’re proud of yourself and of the mess that you’ve made. Thanks ‘dad’—from yours truly, the grown woman that’s still afraid.