Poetry: She Lives (Follow-Up on Ruined Goods) by Debra Ayis

This is a follow-up poem from the award winning poet

She Lives

She'd forgotten how to smile

She looked into the mirror

Urging her muscles to remember the pattern

Her fingers edged her cheeks upward

Tracing the outline of what she sought.

She clawed into the depths of her soul

Into the darkness that plagued her

She searched for a marble

A sparkle of joy and light.

They had put her down,

Stripped her of her purity

Chartered her like an object

Sold her to the highest bidder

Her identity lost in more ways than one.

She’d survived, she’d escaped.

She rebuilt,

A new identity, a brave voice

Fighting for the voiceless

Protecting the innocent

Past the hate, anger and nightmares

Building on precious lost years

Healing from within

Telling the world her story

Learning about love and happiness

Walking out in freedom

Embracing life as the sun caresses her face

Like a dead seed sprouting to life,

Gradually moving past her horror

Learning to find her smile again.