[PTSD HELD TOGETHER HAND IN HAND]I was living alone
in a motel room
with combat memories
as my companions.
In a parallel existence,
feeling rejected,
troubled and alone
she lived close by.
Together we drank,
argued, talked, and
discovered a feeling
of being unsettled.
Unable to talk about me,
I listened attentively
as she revealed her childhood
memories of rape and abuse.
Knowing I had left
a life behind, she threatened
to jump into a truck to leave
this desperate place.
She entered my world
at a time when I believed
my life was held in place
by a single straw.
Affecting my life,
she replaced the dangling
straw with a rope, and
became my life’s hope.
Sadly, not much has changed
in the years that have passed
as I alone relive my memories
from an unforgettable war.
©John A Tabah
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