The kitchen table In the house where I grew up Was wooden, cold and stained Came apart in the middle Like so many ruined meals And other realities hard to digest Silences which say …

Look out the wind-blown window Through the evergreen tree gone bare Sun unseen lights the grey sky Of air so cold even time is slowed Until a bitter, vengeful gust Threatens to take down …

Please, don’t cheer at my progress! You may smile, But let your smiles be kindly and not wry - Not “There you see - we told you so!”. That style Can sting. Picture instead …

Shame wreathes my morning, like the thickest mist. I trickle through the day, craving the night. I scour those nights. Does peace hide, in some scream? But where to find it? I can’t even …

I grazed my rage today. It flushed my skin. A lava-storm erupted deep within But stayed inside, for grown-up girls and boys Are not supposed to make an angry noise. Bugger that! I AM, …

'Just tickling', but his grasp betrays the lie. Outside, the playground squeals its playground fears. He splays the me-child, flesh against his thigh, Manoeuvres that shame shudder down my years. The nature study jam-jars …

He took a piece of me. He took the peace of me, my Godfather. And, my God, Father, I need it back. Now. Please? Peace - Oh, I remember you. You endless summer of …

After, i was in therapy for years CBT worksheets plotted purposefully amongst childhood paraphernalia from corners, soft lamplight was thrown like a duvet trying to drape coziness  over the confining clinical unease. and they were …

A life of Trauma is like a life at stormy sea The brutal storms and changing tides drowned you in an instant in time.  The crashing waves beat you around and forever the fear pins you …