Surviving rape

Broken inside

Secrets to hide

Struggling to float

In the deep moat

Of sorrows profound

Of demons that hound

Pain once inflicted

Deeply embedded

Etched on her soul

Branded like coal

Crying for escape

A change of landscape

A cleansing of soul

To render her whole..

**

She is a survivor

Her strength can revive her

She lifts her head high

She turns a blind eye

To penetrating stares

She knows no one cares

Ghosts of the past

She’s burning at last

She’s picked up the threads

Of her life full of shreds

Weaving them in a pattern

All new, to mark her return

From the dungeons of shame

She’s absolved herself from blame..

**

The scars that remained

The residual pain

Faded some more

As she found succour

In the warmth of love true..

A new landscape she drew

For her heart full of hope

She had climbed up a slope

Of happiness hard-earned

As her fate slowly turned

Her resilience now rewarded

Love, she had been awarded.