Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 
Pain poured from my being, dripping from my fingertips like blood. Emotion scaled the walls and crept into my heart like a silent scream.
My heart beat inside my mind, its pace quickening, and my senses heightened.
My body felt the ache of the war that tore through me.
I am still healing from the battles this world has ****** upon me.
My body feels like a war zone.
I gasp through the tremors of pain, night terrors clinging to my sheets.
My jaw is tight from clenching; pain is a constant, and I am still here.
I am still fighting.

-Rhia Clay
This poem is very personal to me. I have PTSD from my time in the military, and I wrote it recently to express the feeling of being triggered. The preparation for war, the experience of war itself, and all that occurs in between are not pretty. Military service and the invisible battles faced by those who serve—often without the permission to show their struggles—can take a significant toll, with some paying the price for a lifetime. I do have many good days, but this poem was not written on one of them. Thank you for taking the time to read this note and my poem.
Write from the heart. Write with purity and until you have bled every ounce of passion from your pen. Write until you have exhausted the limits of your creativity, until you're free..

-Rhia Clay
I thank God for continued healing.
I have had to yield and allow my body to endure the hurt, releasing my ego more times than I can remember.
Though I have been saved and revitalized countless times.
There is healing in this rain, and growth flourishes in his presence.
Joy flows through like water through a dam, released through prayer and faith.
God has never lost sight of me, even when I could no longer find myself.
No words can measure my thanks.
Still, I raise my hands in praise anyway.

-Rhia Clay
In the quiet of the night, she lingered, savoring a slow drag from her cigarette.
After all, this was the sole indulgence she allowed herself from time to time.
As she observed the smoke swirling gracefully before her,
she sensed a calmness enveloping her.
Gradually, her spirit was rising, and she understood the importance of not hurrying its journey.
She was not just okay.
She was more than okay,
she was truly alive.

-Rhia Clay
Next page