Retract

Diana/The Wandering Armadillo

The Wandering Armadillo

if i arch my back, just so

you will hear the gutteral crack

of ribs splaying

and thunder peal

confined to a distant canyon

observe the blood rivulet flow

tinted crimson

from rhodonite glow

did you think of yourself as some indelible mark on my being?

how easily I’ve erased your ochred pigments

from my crumbled cave walls

Lascaux?

indeed no

you were only the sharpest point of the trident

ending some turgid trilogy of torment

so stand back

drop the Finochietto*

little blood, no gore

though you expected more

your surgical precision

met with

phlegmatic derision

*a type of surgical retractor designed to separate ribs in chest surgery. Named after Argentinian surgeon Enrique Finochietto

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Wishing for Death–Kindra M. Austin

Understand me. I wished him dead. I did have half a mind to kill him once, with a cast iron skillet, caught up in the white-hot frenzy. I was fourteen years old, and convinced I was prepared to murder the man choking my mother in the kitchen while a beef roast baked in the oven. …

Under the Influence

A Wise Woman Writes

Frigid fog

Relentlessly rising

From warm mother

Loyal as a dog

Turns to ice

When it touches my skin

Promises spliced

Into lapsed life

Secrets buried

Flashback of

Drugged days

Bitter taste

Anemic amnesiac

Miss you

Let’s get together soon

Sweet solicitations

Remember me

Drown me

Choking on vows

Cotton in my mouth

Rabid teeth

Bite the hand that feeds me

Blood on the table

It’s only a flesh wound

Attracting flies

And little white lies

Implications of a cataclysm

I hate you because I love you

Superficial sorceress

White noise aftermath

Cannibalistic behavior

I thought you were my savior

Dawn delivers

Veracity unveiled

Devoured dreams

Stockholm syndrome screams

Unsolicited youth

Pound the pavement

For answers and truth

Living unchained

Fades into fantasy

Under the influence

(Image by Max Sauco)

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The Girl who Freezes/Jessica Boyles

She makes me see Flashing images She makes me feel Pressure, burning and pain She makes me hear Their voices She makes me smell Body odor and cologne She makes me taste Bitterness Because She Freezes She Did nothing Tasted nothing Smelled nothing Heard nothing Felt nothing Saw nothing Fight or flight Are not the …

Girls Aren’t For Beating/Rachel Finch

I take rejection like a winner, spit the blood from my mouth when you’ve finished pounding childhood trauma into my lungs, smile through the bruises, keep your secrets in my throat, along with your name. I won’t speak you into existence. My body tapped out but my Spirit’s in the ring, I won’t go down. …

The Evolution of Nothing- Allane Sinclair

Passionate kissing with tongues and frantic fumbling, sneaky sex on the back seats of buses, I kid my teenage self that you can’t get enough of me You romantic son-of-a-bitch On beaches I inhale the briny air and battle the winds that fill my mouth with hair. Trying to enjoy the views, I see you …

On Forces of Nature- Aurora Phoenix/Insights from “Inside”

the river does not question herself when the heavens torrent and the flooding of her banks encroaches uncomfortably deluged in downpours overwhelming emotions I overflow impinge upon your mythical white picket fences the volcano does not self-recriminate when twisters of fate spin beyond control and funnels of fury darken doorways shatter windowpanes whirling in misbegotten …

Scores- Varnika Jain

There are scars On my body From acts unspoken As there are stars On the horizon From dreams unbroken. Looking at both under the night sky, A stream of tears escapes my eye. For there are wars In the days to come From debts still pending Then on all fours You’ll be crouching As I …

Voices of Survival

Christine shares her heartfelt thoughts about Blood Into Ink. I am grateful for this Warrior family tribe!

Brave & Reckless

When I started Brave and Reckless in October of 2016, one of my first decisions was to write bravely and recklessly about my history of trauma, my ongoing struggles with PTSD and depression, and my journey to a stronger, more integrated self.  In essence, to value my truths over other people’s comfort, which I spent far too long doing earlier in my life.

Over the months I hosted and reblogged many inspiring and powerful pieces from other “voices of survival” as I have come to think of them and have done my best to promote those voices when I find them.  As time went by, and Brave and Reckless grews, I started wondering if was time to create space on WordPress to house and put a spotlight on some of the amazing voices I have encountered here, the voices of women and men who are survivors of sexual abuse, physical…

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Blood Into Ink: Your Writing Wanted

The curators of Blood Into Ink are seeking guest writers to share their stories about the struggles and triumphs faced by trauma survivors.  We welcome the writing of women and men who have lived through sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse, emotional abuse, child neglect, emotional abuse, domestic violence and other forms of trauma.  We believe …