Trauma Is Like A New Uniform

The reporter said “Their trauma is like a new uniform.”

This is only partly true.

It’s rather like a foggy veil

We try to keep hidden from view.

Much like the Emperor’s New Clothes

But in reverse,

We hope to keep secret this affliction  

With which we are cursed.

We are haunted by the past,

A time of panic and fear.

A past that will not stay put away,

And re-surfaces with tears.

Friends and family have heard enough,

They tell us “No more excuses!”

And strangers don’t want to hear

The details of the abuses.

But like a soldier back from war

Missing eye and limbs,

We are crippled by lack of

Support for turmoil within.

We want to be like all of you,

Knowledgeable and skilled,

But abilities we should have received

Were mutilated or killed.

Contrary to what many believe

We did not choose the events:

The beatings, the invectives, the cruelty  

That caused our impediments.

So next time you hear someone whine

Think about why they are in need.

What is in their past that today

Causes their emotions to bleed?

Naida Lavon

2007