Rise Again
Lights begin to dim.
Colors start to fade.
Peace drifts away.
And into the calamity,
I am drowned.
Thoughts dissolve to dust,
as the voice inside my head,
grows louder.
“Stop hiding.”
“You are ours.”
“Stop running.”
“This is the end.”
Haunts of the past
with fears of the future.
How will I protect
myself and others?
Every time I rise,
something trips me
and down I go again.
First the abuse,
then the panic attacks,
ending with the diagnosis
of PTSD.
I try to believe
I am normal.
I want to believe
I am normal.
I cannot believe
I am normal.
Because it isn’t true.
Each flashback,
each dream,
takes me farther and farther away
from the person, I used to be.
Laughing, smiling,
now all gone.
But I still hope.
I hope for a better tomorrow.
I hope,
and I know,
I am stronger than whoever is out there,
trying to harm me.
I am brave.
I am bruised.
I am who I’m meant to be.
And I will rise again.
Colors start to fade.
Peace drifts away.
And into the calamity,
I am drowned.
Thoughts dissolve to dust,
as the voice inside my head,
grows louder.
“Stop hiding.”
“You are ours.”
“Stop running.”
“This is the end.”
Haunts of the past
with fears of the future.
How will I protect
myself and others?
Every time I rise,
something trips me
and down I go again.
First the abuse,
then the panic attacks,
ending with the diagnosis
of PTSD.
I try to believe
I am normal.
I want to believe
I am normal.
I cannot believe
I am normal.
Because it isn’t true.
Each flashback,
each dream,
takes me farther and farther away
from the person, I used to be.
Laughing, smiling,
now all gone.
But I still hope.
I hope for a better tomorrow.
I hope,
and I know,
I am stronger than whoever is out there,
trying to harm me.
I am brave.
I am bruised.
I am who I’m meant to be.
And I will rise again.
Reflection:
Writing this poem, for my second piece, came very naturally to me. For both pieces now, I have noticed that getting started is the most difficult part. Before I wrote this poem, I browsed the internet in search of personal stories based on the concept of hope. Unique stories were pretty difficult to find since majority of the pages that came up were about religion and faith in god. From the start of this project, I have tried my best to stray away from this part of hope since it wasn’t the focus of my project. After browsing a few links, I noticed how majority of the stories I had read were related to or directly about overcoming a mental condition or weakness. It then struck me of how hope is so important in overcoming our invisible scars. By directly looking at someone, we don’t see that horrifying flashback or that recurring nightmare, making them even more difficult to recover from. From there, I decided I would write a poem on how those people feel, who have all their feelings suppressed inside without a sliver of hope.
My inspiration story (linked below) is about a girl who experiences various scarring moments throughout her childhood. They resulted in her having panic attacks and dissolving herself in a social community throughout adolescence. At the age of 35, she was then diagnosed with PTSD. Throughout her journey through terrible flashbacks and sleep-less nights, she never gave up hope. I decided to put her story into poetic verse, which was a completely new experience for me. The most difficult part would be put a story with great detail into such less words, but I feel that made my word choice more selective and effective. I hope you enjoy my poem and that this story inspires you, as it did for me.
Writing this poem, for my second piece, came very naturally to me. For both pieces now, I have noticed that getting started is the most difficult part. Before I wrote this poem, I browsed the internet in search of personal stories based on the concept of hope. Unique stories were pretty difficult to find since majority of the pages that came up were about religion and faith in god. From the start of this project, I have tried my best to stray away from this part of hope since it wasn’t the focus of my project. After browsing a few links, I noticed how majority of the stories I had read were related to or directly about overcoming a mental condition or weakness. It then struck me of how hope is so important in overcoming our invisible scars. By directly looking at someone, we don’t see that horrifying flashback or that recurring nightmare, making them even more difficult to recover from. From there, I decided I would write a poem on how those people feel, who have all their feelings suppressed inside without a sliver of hope.
My inspiration story (linked below) is about a girl who experiences various scarring moments throughout her childhood. They resulted in her having panic attacks and dissolving herself in a social community throughout adolescence. At the age of 35, she was then diagnosed with PTSD. Throughout her journey through terrible flashbacks and sleep-less nights, she never gave up hope. I decided to put her story into poetic verse, which was a completely new experience for me. The most difficult part would be put a story with great detail into such less words, but I feel that made my word choice more selective and effective. I hope you enjoy my poem and that this story inspires you, as it did for me.