Why Did I Put This Collection Together?

People write poetry for many different reasons, and they put together collections of their poems for many different reasons too. When I first began collecting and writing for my first poetry collection, I didn’t realise how diverse my reasons really were…

I thought putting a collection together was just a natural progression for a poet. I knew other poets with collections out and I wanted to join the crew. There was more to it than that though. My collection has a theme, an important theme, and that theme was child abuse. It’s not a cheerful subject, but it’s one I certainly know a bit about.

My poetry collection shows my journey from being the victim of child abuse to being a survivor from child abuse. It includes many poems showing the ways I’ve been thinking about the subject over the many years in between my stages.

So, one of my reasons for putting the collection together was to show my journey. Another reason was simply to help myself come to terms with the abuse and the way it affected my life. A further reason was to hep to heal myself. I certainly found the whole process therapeutic.

A final reason though is this one – I didn’t realise it at the time, but this is a book that has helped other people who’ve been sexually abused. Knowing one is not alone and that other people really do understand what you’ve suffered from is such a good feeling. If you’re not alone, you can begin to fight back, if only fighting back against your own thoughts.

A friend spoke to me recently and she thanked me for my poetry collection. It meant much to her and she was able to finally put some demons away. Learning these things gives me such a good feeling. I’m a survivor now, not a victim, and with my words, I know I’ve helped others to become survivors too.

Rape, the Question of Fault, Again …

an interesting link for you

click on the link first, then read on here …

So, whose fault is it, when someone is raped? Does that question really need to be asked? An analogy for you. If I had an expensive watch and someone took it from me without my consent, would that be my fault?

If you say no, not my fault, what about if I was out at night and I was drunk? My fault then? I don’t think so. What if I was flashing my super expensive watch around so everyone could see it? Still not my fault if someone forcibly or without permission takes it. It’s still theft, surely. The only thing I’m guilty of is stupidity perhaps, because there will always be people who steal things, just as there will always be rapists.

We can’t all lock ourselves away though. We all have lives to live,and the right to make our own decision on the way we wish to live our lives. It makes as much sense to ban men from going out to prevent rape, as it does to ban women from doing it..