Tag: trauma

Poetry by Patrick JenningsNov 10, 201811:58 pm

The Retreat, Harmony in Form and Word, Gallery Bistro, Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada

A Part of Myself

I put a part of myself
A deepest part
Up on a wall
For any and all to see

Ambivalence
Trepidation
Uncertainty

Too much?
Too dark?
Too bleak?

For a bistro?

Until a voice says
“That is me, up there
On your wall.”

Poetry by Patrick JenningsAug 3, 20187:00 am

Autumn Light, Over Lynne Mansion, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Trauma

I am of this world
And I am not

I am in this world
And I am not

I have this body
And I do not

I am present
I am nowhere

I am here
But not

I am present
I am a ghost

This is trauma
This is dissociation

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJul 17, 20187:00 am

The Guilt in Her Eye

Who would I be
Without the guilt
In a sad, lonely eye
Reflecting back at me

Who would I be
Without the self-doubt
Without the self-pity
Without the self-hate

Which accompanies it

What if I could show
Myself the compassion
Myself the kindness
Myself the forgiveness

I offer so freely to others

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJun 26, 201810:54 pm

Alpine Daisy Aster Close, Buller Mountain, Spray Valley Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

Unbroken

In the shadows
On the periphery
Core hidden away

I observe the violence
The hurt
The suffering

Detached
Feeling nothing

To feel would be
To shatter

So strong because

So fragile

Landscape by Patrick JenningsNov 15, 20177:00 am

Beyond Horizon's Edge, Amphitrite Lighthouse, Wild Pacific Trail, Ucluelet, British Columbia Canada

Beyond the Edge

She came here, beyond the edge, because she was beyond the edge. Here, she could look straight into the tumult, because it was not her tumult, not her upheavals, not her crashing into the walls. It was not her tragedies.

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 19, 201610:48 pm

Sunrise, Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, United States of America

Blood Red

Rock tumbled
Over the chasm’s edge
Like blood flowing
From a deep wound

Seeing the land in this way
I recognize the depth
Of my own trauma