Daughterbody I: a self-exorcism through poetry

“When I let him take me

And mustered up the courage

To look him in the eyes

All I could see

Were two dead black button pupils

And I was terrified

And I sank back into myself.”

I am giving my voice back to a past that was robbed of one.

Poetry is never insecure.

Poetry is an invaluable companion to me. Literature and languages have always been healers in my life.

Since my vocational education, I knew that I’d endure every single hardship in order for me to be free, creative and able to write despite all discouraging voices and soul-crushing jobs.

Writing is when I love my voice the most, when I stand firmly on my own two feet, when I reach ancestral togetherness and make sense of and peace with all the things that I’ve seen, lived through and learned from. I write what has been whispered, what has been screamed, what has set roots, everything that has never been said, everything that hurts, everything that is in need of acknowledgement and release. Writing is an act of reversing a chokehold.

Expression is as significant to the writer as it is for the reader. My poetry collection is multi-personal and heals my transgenerational trauma.

Poems are active images of release and resonance for the writer and reader. My hope is that you, the reader, will find yourself in my words and feel seen and heard, just like I feel myself reflected in and comforted by other people’s work.

Here’s to the magic of page-turning over endlessly scrolling down.

After my novel, “Within Paravent Walls”, it is another true act of the heart to publish my poetry collection “Daughterbody I: a self-exorcism through poetry”.

In addition to the gratitude expressed in the book, I want to thank the kind and magnificent Jordan Hoggard, an author himself and a reader of my work for years now, who encouraged me to publish a poetry anthology.

I want to celebrate this new body of work with Jordan’s words: “Chthonic Numinosity. Depth with no fear of addressing behemoth-level emotional topics through her poetry and evolved wonderment and continual curiosity. She runs deep, and takes the proper gear to do so… herself. I see a chthonic numinosity in her poetry that is akin to night and day stained glass. Well worth the visit. Powerful. Intense. Heartfelt. I advise to bring tissues for all the right reasons.”

I am honoured to have Maya Beck’s artwork, which resonates so much with me, on the cover and to have started a successful working relationship with Laura Kincaid who designed the book inside out.