When you’re in the trenches trying to get out
When you see the climb ahead up the mountainside
When you need a hand up
When you’ve been dragged through hell…
When you’ve attempted every single avenue to seek help…
When access to resources has been reduced…
When roadblocks keep getting plopped in front of you…
When it’s one step forward, but two steps back…
All while trying to raise a child
Without a support system
With the expectation that I need to move forward
Without a way to access much needed services to heal
That a ‘bounceback’ is just a matter of ‘pulling up the boot straps’
All while trying to navigate an unbeaten path
When mental health is an issue
When you still need to move forward despite having no more fumes to run on
When auto pilot shut off awhile ago
When the psychological abuse was real but it’s being implied that it didn’t happen or it ‘wasn’t that bad’
When you’re stuck treading under water and trying not to drown but the safety floatation device gets thrown in the opposite direction
When your reality clashes with incorrect perceptions and misconceptions
When you slowly start to disappear
When you see the bridges that are getting burned
When the signs of trouble are there
Because behavior should be seen as a symptom
Of a deeper problem
And it NEEDS to be addressed
But it gets misconstrued instead…
…because they’d rather believe the images and misconceptions
Not all evil is visible
Ask the ones who speak of it and live with the invisible scars
Island of Misfit Mamas 