Description
Book Synopsis Even if you haven''t been hurt by domestic violence, someone you know has and wishes they could tell you about it. Perhaps you are a therapist, teacher, academic, or social worker who wants to help those who are suffering. Or maybe you are in an abusive relationship and need to know that you are not alone.
The poems, memoirs, and creative nonfiction pieces collected here tell of real incidents of abuse, as well as of those who left destructive and unsalvageable relationships. The beauty and truth of the language, as well as the honesty and courage, set this anthology apart from self-help manuals and academic treatises on domestic violence. This book offers a path forward to healing, health and fulfillment, using the power of art to give voice where voice has been stifled, forgotten, overlooked or denied.
Trade ReviewWhen Home Is Not Safe brings a necessary voice to the silent and all-pervasive epidemic of domestic abuse among us. This is a powerful anthology—healing for the writer, eye-opening for the reader. As a therapist and a poet, I highly recommend this collection." —Gayle Kaune MSW, LICSW, author,
Noise from Stars"This anthology on a wide range of abuse is alive in its varied writings, both prose and poetry. The full sensory experience of domestic violence reveals human suffering, as well as triumph over trauma. The sheer existence of these writings is memorable...this is a must read for educators, social workers, and all those in the field of domestic abuse." —Ellen Katz, PhD, MSW, RSW, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
"How are we to receive and make use of these cries of the heart? These writings serve as sociological evidence of the imposition of the disturbed narratives of the powerful upon the vulnerable, in our domestic lives. I see them as reminders of the need to assure victims that their narratives matter more, and that the shame of what was done lies with the perpetrators." —Patty Cannon MA LMHC, psychotherapist, Seattle, Washington
Table of ContentsPreface by Judith Skillman and Linera Lucas 1
Introduction by Judith Skillman and Linera Lucas 4
I—Home
Heidi Seaborn
Weather 9
Drafting a Flight Plan 9
Jennifer Jenkins
Hit Me 10
Susan April
The Ballet 13
Howie Good
Anger Is an Arrow 20
Stick Figure Family 20
The Secret Goldfish 20
Emma Brousseau
What's True of the Garden Pea 21
Wren Tuatha
Fissure 25
Chelsea Clammer
Balcony, 3 a.m. 26
Nina Fosati
Her Father's Daughter 28
RK Taylor
holy / days 30
Lynn Magill
You Smiled 30
Michael 31
Cynthia Steele
Words "Too Dark" for the Father's Day Edition 33
Kurt Olsson
Packs 41
Drowned 42
The Best of a Bad Year 42
J. Flynn Doncaster
Ever Closer 43
II—Trauma
Lindsay Erdman
Abroad 46
LeeAnn Olivier
Kintsugi 46
Aimee Parkison
Girl in Rape Kit 54
Victoria Elizabeth Ruwi
A Slice of Summer 55
Mary Ellen Talley
Wine Song 59
How to Survive Abuse 59
A Steady Whip 59
Ogu Chukwuebuka Kizito
Voices from the Streets 60
Carolyne Wright
Mandamientos: Lover to Beloved 63
I Forgive 63
Paul Rousseau
Kitchen Table 64
Jonaki
It Wasn't the First Time He Hit Me 66
Darlene Goetzman
Reading the Lines 67
Anne Spollen
From Where I Live Now 76
Izzy Wilson
Why Are They Fighting? 79
Christina Hoag
When His Words Became a Drug 82
Amelia Goldman
The Fixer 88
Sally Quon
Beginnings 88
Gayelene Carbis
His face Right in My Face 93
The Weight of Words in Our Hands Like Water 96
This is What Happened 97
Kelsey Brown
A Game of Cat and Mouse 100
Polly Buckingham
Excerpt—The Queen in the Mirror 110
III—PTSD
Tina Barry
Pine 122
Roxanne James
Counting Raindrops 123
Lillo Way
Pearls Before Swine 126
Sally Showalter
Stone Lies 127
H.M. Clark
Fire Line 131
Danielle Hark
I Keep Secrets Stashed in a Lock Box 134
Abandoned Doll 134
Cold Sheets 135
Secrets Stashed in Tiny Orange Pill Bottles 136
Lexy Courneya
Memoir Excerpts 136
Memoir Excerpts II 141
Joyce Hayden
The Out of Body Girl 142
Marjorie Maddox
Eiffel Tower 154
On a Hot Summer Night for Revenge 155
The Truth of Lies, The Lies of Truth 156
Sharp. 157
IV—In Retrospect
Susan Landgraf
The Woman Who Held Her Tongue 159
Carol Smallwood
House of Cards 159
A Picnic 160
Rosanne Ehrlich
Two-Year Slide in Brooklyn Heights 161
Linera Lucas
Saddle Up 172
Signal 173
Lindsey Heatherly
Weaving Rope 173
Robert Kingett
My First Online Love 177
Alice Ting Liu
Tug of War 180
Judith Skillman
Trellis 183
Years Later 184
Jeff Burd
Lost in Transmission 185
Mary Zelinka
Last Supper 188
Sailor Holladay
Red Flag 190
Alison Stone
Heretic 194
Tina Kelley
Pushed Out of the Chevy, She Adjusts Her Miniskirt 195
Meggie Royer
Twenty Years of Rain 195
Acknowledgments 197
Acknowledgments of Previously Published Work 199
Notes 201
About the Contributors 203
Index 211
