smoke and flames

 A survivor will 

put weight on their body

like armor

keeping predators and others

away if they can.

A survivor will lose weight

So, you cannot get access

to the softness that 

was violated and betrayed.

A survivor will split from 

themselves

Body goes in one direction

Mind and heart go elsewhere.

A survivor will do

what it takes

to make it through

intact. 

And when they realize they

are not fully intact, that

part of them has slipped away

they might search for it

or just accept that it's lost. 

Survivors have some 

choices to make.

Shut down, open up

swim faster

sink to the bottom.

All are fair reactions

to the fractured self

the wounded self

the one who might

divorce from reality, so

they can come back

with some sanity. 

Some of us 

make it look easy

but that is never the case

we mend what is broken

with tools we forged

from the ashes of the pain

we torched.

warming ourselves by

the fire 

watching flames and 

smoke go up 

higher and higher, finally

back to the place of 

endings and beginnings

winding together

loss and wholeness