Submissions by Just_a_ghost (Riyah)

I am not ready to die yet.
There’s  this beautiful magnolia tree
wildly blossoming outside
my kitchen window
and my beautiful animals
still need feeding and caring for.
And by giving then the love they desire
and by giving so freely to others
I too feel nurtured and cherished
The pain that happened can’t steal my hope anymore.

It’s a hard concept to grasp but
even after struggling  
with anxiety,depression and PTSD
I am only just now learning
not to let my pain and battlewounds define me.

Just like the...

Seroquel  
like tangerine skies  
provides me with an alternate reality  
whilst I cradle myself  
rocking back and forth  
counting sheep  
 
I imagine a world without gravity  
Where the memories of you  
no longer weigh me down  
and where perpetual self defence  
doesn’t violently awaken me  
from sleep  
 
The war zone I endured still plays in my head  
It all happened right here  
In this room, in my bed  
You muffled my pleas with your forearm  
whilst I gasped for air
and...

I ran back
into that burning house
to try and salvage the things I loved.

I chose morsels of nurturance
and compassion
over escaping engulfment

To survive meant to stay and fight flames
or be left alone to fend for yourself
with no warmth at all.

In school we were taught
we must put on our own oxygen mask first
before assisting others.

Yet since I was a child
I have never known anything different;
I learnt that you must be willing
to burn alive
in order to bear witness to a...

The morning after I was raped
I made my rapist breakfast.
Two slices of toast ,
with cheese and marmite
and a coffee to wash it down
There was no talking,
just the birds chirping away
in the background
creating a background hum.

It wasn’t like what you might see
in the movies,
or read about in news headlines;
There was no scream down a back alley,
Police cordons,
or manhunt for a suspect

Just a man who held me hostage
in my own home,
for days
without a gun.

For...