The truth about our childhood is stored up in our body, and although we can repress it, we can never alter it. Our intellect can be deceived, our feelings manipulated, our perceptions confused, and our body tricked with medication. But someday the body will present its bill, for it is as incorruptible as a child who, still whole in spirit, will accept no compromises or excuses, and it will not stop tormenting us until we stop evading the truth.

You can look at my life and say there’ve been some real tragedies, and there have been. But there’ve also been some exquisitely beautiful times. To me, those far outweigh the others.

You have the right to set ground rules. This means deciding if, when, and how you want to see the people in your family. Many survivors feel that if they open up the channels at all, they have to open them up all the way. When you were a child you had two options – to trust or not to trust. Your options are broader now.

One woman was sure that her father would appear on her front steps and try to kill her. In actuality, he hid from her after that, avoiding her totally. He was scared of her. You may not realize it, but you hold a lot of power when you tell the truth.

Garrison Keillor read several of my poems on ‘The Writer’s Almanac’ and I’ve heard from listeners nationally and internationally. That’s one of the great gifts of email.

I live in Santa Cruz. I moved here in 1974 and couldn’t leave.

A dread that something bad was waiting for me has followed me most of my life. I have a morbid fear of the dark. I will never close my eyes in the shower. There are parts of my own house I am just beginning to go into.

Until lions start writing down their own stories, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” – AFRICAN PROVERB.

I think many people love poetry who don’t know they love it. People are sometimes afraid of poetry, or they’ve been introduced to poetry that doesn’t speak to them.

Survivors are often good at both resolving and generating crisis. While this capacity to handle crisis can make you a good emergency room worker or ambulance driver, it can also be a way for you to keep yourself from feeling. If you are addicted to intensity and drama... you may be running from yourself.