My Words - Survivor poems
As you listen to the poems, write down the words that stand out for you from the text or words that come to mind for you. You will begin to build a (word picture), which you can access at the end of the resource. Click to access the poems.
Survivor poems - Introduction
Listen to these poems written by older survivors. They are very powerful expressions of the impact of domestic violence and abuse experienced by older women and refer to both physical and mental health and general wellbeing.
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Key
I am a Metaphor for some of the most important things in life.
I am a bit cold but I am shiny and new.
I have learned to stop comparing myself as a criticism and only as a tool for learning from.
I would hope that the others may only seek to understand me rather than compare with me.
If they see me shining then it's great.
I would like to find the secret lock to open the right doors to my future.
I dream of a shiny new lock to fit with as a pair, to open a whole world of dreams.
I am scared of getting lost, not fitting or finding my purpose.
The rock next to me is solid and natural. It can be formed with the weather and seasons.
I am man made and look for my natural state.
I was waiting to be moulded, pressed and shaped into my current form.
I can be worn down or melted and reshaped from my natural shape or current form.
I feel like I'm revisiting my past life but realise I am still in the same shape, a little vulnerable but still can shine.
I am here now to unlock a little bit more...
The secret to unlocking your heart is with a shiny new key.
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Silent
I think about surviving. I am trapped in this way to live my life. Dark dwells around me.
I hear sounds like a knife scratching or chains are rattling.
Waking up in the morning breathing. Surviving is living a day in a time.
The women with pale skin and black eyes. She perhaps laughs a bit.
Peace and silence birds singing. Smiley faces things around me. My heart beating.
The woman does not like to talk, she is silent.
Happier, she has done sometimes for herself.
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String
I am string.
Wound up.
Not as strong as some, not as thick as others!
Others think I hide myself in layers.
To be unravelled gently and not tied up in knots.
Being free and not bound.
Getting burned!
I can hurt me, I can soothe me.
I was part of a living thing.
Ready to be useful.
To make people think!
Used by many-everybody’s saviour.
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Tissue
I am a tissue / handkerchief.
Tired and wet.
Not so strong and keep breaking up.
They think I am weak and unreliable.
I would like to be strong like the others and trust myself.
It dreams about the past, what’s happened how frightened it was.
What is going to happen in the future?
I feel it is strong and plenty of it.
I was in a box.
On my own lonely, tired and wet.
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One day at a time
- A weak person who ceases to exist.
- Overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, hopeless and confused.
- Trying to stay safe, financially and emotionally holding it all together.
- Just getting through another day living one day at a time.
- Worried, sad, wishing things could have been better.
- Wondering if she would make the right decision.
- She is glad to be out of it.
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Rock
I am a stone (a rock).
I am absorbing spring sunshine and warming up in a daytime.
I am strong and solid inside and warm when the weather is sunny, I am eternity.
They think I am cold, ugly and a bit of dangerous.
I would like to be a part of a wall of a castle.
I dream about a butterfly sitting on me enjoying sunshine.
I am scared of being demolished (broken) by a big hammer.
I feel that key is much more important, intelligent and useful than I am.
Before I was in the deep lake (floor) now I feel dry and enjoying a lot of fresh air and sunshine.
I am here because a fate changed my placement.
Epitaph will be written on me. I am eternity.
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