Generational Trauma

Do onto others as you wish to be done onto
This is the call
Cast off the shackles of
Abuse
Neglect
Mistreatment 
Harm
The scars that mar your ancestors 
The scars that mar you
The greatest gift given in life
Free will 
Wield it like a craftsman 
Hold it like a pen and
Rewrite your story 
Erase the patterns from your pages
Show your children that you
Can reshape the stars in the sky
Show them how to heal in the light of the moon
And the bright beacon of day
No future is written in stone 
No fate inevitable 
Let it begin here
By deciding the pain of the past 
Ends here

-gws

@wordswishesandwisdom
Happy NaPoWriMo! Here’s my Day 5 poem called Generational Trauma. #poetry #wordsmithing #poem #writer #wordswishesandwisdom #poet #poetsoftiktok #poetryTok #NaPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo2024 #poetryreading
♬ Metamorphosis – David Clavijo

My Nervous System Knows

Photo by RonaK PitambeR ChoudharY on Pexels.com

When vibrant joy sparks bitter tears
It means that too many years
Have been spent in emotional blight
That no jubilation can put to right

Like a cloud crossing the sun
Or a dissonant chord rung
When my heart swells and glows
My nervous system knows

That this joy will lead to grieving
My chest begins its heaving
Turning smiles into frowns
As the cortisol lets down

How long has this been so
I will not pretend to know
Like a candle smothered 
I unconsciously keep covered

That which makes me take up space
Before I can feel the grace
Of real joy in my blood
I dump it in the mud

I avoid the disappointment
Like a fly stuck in the ointment
I abandon my true will
When he sets on me that chill

And so I am now trained
That joy will end in pain
I know that I must mend
So the sun can shine again

-gws

50 Minutes

50 minutes ticking by
50 minutes to find out why
The tears will or will not come
I so struggle to find the one
Reason that keeps me coming back 
Spilling emotions when words lack
50 minutes of probing questions 
50 minutes of new suggestions 
And strategies and considerations 
To uncover buried machinations 
The central program in my belief system 
Manifest in all my symptoms 
50 minutes focused on me 
50 minutes of talk therapy 

-gws