Dark memories
Hard
not to
remember
sources of wounds,
soul, body, timeless
persistence of torture,
escape to oblivion,
only safety available
drifting outside body, which recalls
what exceeds verbal expression: terror
occurring, dark cellar, such long time past,
to a pale boy only five years old.
Healing could not happen until
every pain was remembered,
with each tortured detail…
Healing happened, though
scars still remain,
each speaking
timeless
truth.
~ Wry Welwood
13th of July 2021
Dedicated to the billions who have prevailed over childhood abuse throughout history, and also to those who perished.
In response to an unintended prompt in Melissa Coffey’s poem Flicker.
The physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children is a scourge upon humanity, one that has outlasted attempts at eradication over millenia. Most adults are not child molesters, yet they afford immunity to child abusers by turning a blind eye. This speaks to the often cited dictum that for evil to flourish, it only requires good people to do nothing.
It is only natural to avoid looking at disgusting or horrifying things. Yet we indulge our squeamishness at the cost of countless persecuted children. Any perusal of the statistics regarding child abuse reveals that it is rampant. It only survives by skulking in shadows, depending on our avoidance of shining light upon the awful truth.
In one poem, in my collection A Victor’s Psalm, I state: “Truth can be a sword, and love a shield. It’s time we pick them up.”
~ WW