The legacy of child abuse by Carol Anne Johnson

 

Image | Yaseminmsi

The legacy of child abuse

In the quiet corners of memory,  

where shadows stretch and twist,  

a child’s laughter lingers,  

a fragile echo,  

fractured by the weight of whispered secrets.  

 

Once, a heart full of boundless dreams,  

now etched with scars,  

invisible to the world,  

but heavy,  

like a stone sinking into the depths of a river,  

lost to the current,  

yet always felt.  

 

In the twilight of innocence,  

hands meant to cradle,  

turn to fists,  

and the warmth of a hug  

becomes a cage,  

where love is currency,  

and fear is a familiar friend.  

 

Each bruise, a story unheard,  

each tear, a mosaic of silenced cries—  

they build a fortress in the soul,  

walls thick with doubt and distrust,  

yet also the spark of resilience,  

flickering fiercely against the shadows.  

 

Generations weave their tapestries  

of hurt and heroism,  

threads pulled taut,  

patterns repeating, echoing through the years,  

a legacy both heavy and light,  

as the past roams the hallways of the heart,  

sometimes a ghost, sometimes a guide.  

 

Healing is a tender language,  

spoken softly in the safety of vulnerability,  

an unlearning of what they taught,  

a rebirth in the soil of self-compassion,  

where roots grow deep,  

anchoring a new story in the earth.  

 

Yet still, the traces linger,  

the unanswered questions,  

the search for closure,  

for the tiny hands that wanted merely to be held,  

to be seen and celebrated,  

not to bear the weight of the world,  

but to dance among the stars,  

barefoot on grass,  

free.  

 

And in this legacy,  

there is power,  

a reclamation of voice,  

of spirit unbroken,  

rising like smoke from ashes,  

transforming pain into purpose,  

shouting into the echoing night,  

“I am here—  

I am alive—  

and I will love fiercely.”

© Carol Anne Johnson

Carol Anne Johnson is in her mid 40’s. She is blind and was diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and complex PTSD. She is also a survivor of child abuse. She enjoys writing poetry and reading, walking, and volunteering. You can follow her on her blog, http://therapybits.com/.

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