“It Happened, It Hurt, I Am Healing”

One young girl bounded up stairs, one young girl can down in tears

One young girl packed for camp, one young girl sat in the dark and damp

One young girl was like another; they never said anything about their brother

One young girl felt so grown up, one young girl then threw up

Two are affirming, believing, and feeling

Six say it happened, it hurt, we are healing

One slumped in a corner banging her head

One woke up wondering what she had said

One refused to pretend any longer

One still struggles to find trust – and wonder?

Two are affirming, believing, and feeling

Six say it happened, it hurt, we are healing

One clean and sober, committed and new

One with a partner who departed from two

One with a husband learning to care and be kind

One with a little red house hard to find

Two are affirming, believing, and feeling

Six say it happened, it hurt, we are healing

One rarely sees her teenagers three

One with a boy almost too big for her knee

One with two youngsters still quite wee

One with a boy who plays soccer with glee

Two are affirming, believing, and feeling

Six say it happened, it hurt, we are healing

One faces with clarity an uncertain place

One reckons with horrors in more than one face

One has found some peace at her base

One goes on searching at her very own pace

Two are affirming, believing, and feeling

Each say it happened, it hurt, I am healing

-Anonymous