It happens in every kind of family, no matter what we’d like to believe. Girls and boys are sexually abused by adults in their households. Women and men are battered by their spouses. Even if our homes are loving and safe, many of us have experienced violence and trauma in settings too numerous to list. To begin to heal, we must create space for people to tell their stories—and we must listen without turning away.
“Please give me the strength to care for this parent in their suffering”
“there are ones / who loved us / before we were us”
Finding joy in physical pleasure
“i realized my body / was not mine”