The Archive Includes
CW: Child Abuse, Ableism
I.
The time my grandmother hit me
And called it love
The time she stood in front
Of my class
A room full of dyslexics, autistics, and ADHDers
And told that cute little
Story of school corporal punishment
The times she tried
To shove words into my mouth
As I looked
At vocabulary cards
Taped to the wall
Like my eyes
In the night
She would watch
As I pretended
To be asleep
This is not a lullaby
This will not rock you
To rest
This will make you
Think the walls have eyes
And you are watched always
The darkness is never not alive
II.
Love is never not a reversal
Of the teachings
A shock
Lingering around
The outlines of your past
III.
Someday love
Will make a lullaby
Of the night
Show me what it is to be
Seen without expectation
Without penalty
Copyright©️2026 Sojourner “Hughes” Davidson
Comments (2)
Deep. I make myself read works that tackle this subject. I survived years of horrible shit from family and others. Regardless of therapy, recovery, condemnation, ect. We are different. That difference stretches an immense spectrum from "The dedicated to breaking the circle and prevention/exposure" to " The became a new monster and perpetuate the cycle". Sorry you went through such things.