“Poor thing, she’s got the flu — poor dear!”
The nurse was heard to say,
Or so the young girl grasped before
They carried her away.
They told her that she had a cough
And fevered chills and pains.
Her stomach and her chest hurt from
The virus in her veins.
She suffered excess tiredness
And had deep, painful aches.
The doctor said to get some rest
And gave her pills to take.
The little girl looked up, confused,
And asked, “What is this flu?
The symptoms that you’ve listed now
Are really nothing new.
“My head burns with the fever when
The memories return.
They make me nauseous with disgust;
The guilt makes my face burn.
“With grief, despair, my muscles ache;
Shame tightens up my throat.
The chills of fear are frequent, too—
I shiver within my coat.
“This virus in my veins you say
That I have just acquired:
I tell you, I have had it all
Since the assault transpired.
“The illness running through my veins
Can be no more or less
Than symptoms of the rape long passed
That I have since suppressed.
“You tell me that I am too tired:
I can’t just go count sheep.
I wake from nightmares trembling, if
I even fell asleep.”
The doctor stood in shock to find
His patient’s true ailment.
A deeper cause had been revealed
To cause health’s derailment.
She went on, “Well, this ‘flu’ I have
Will all pass before long.
I ask you, can you treat it all
And fix what’s really wrong?”
A contest entry
- Prewrite-palooza by swim.x.
1650 points, ended October 6, 2008, 100 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 12 of 12
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OMFG
this is so dam good,
i seriously love your writing, something about it just calls to me, im pretty sure u dont know who iam, but for some reason ur on my favourites list, so im going to continue comenting on ur stuff, cuz its dam amazing.
x -
After long a poem has touched and impressed me so deeply. This is surely one poem that I will strongly root for.
My heart went out to the little girl, which now as i read below I find is you. No wonder the emotion is so honest. You can be an inspiration for other women.
Keep writing... you do full justice to it dear. -
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Thank you so much. Your kindness is very touching, and I appreciate your support. I wish nobody else had to go through this, but if they do I hope they're as lucky as I am to have friends who care.
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I recently read a book about a girl being raped and not talking about it, and this poem was just as beautiful and haunting as that. I hope that all's going well for you now and that you can one day overcome the 'flu' that keeps you awake and makes you feel separate. There are people out there who have experienced the same thing and if nothing else, you should talk about it and not keep it supressed.
Congratulations and good luck in the contest.
Chin up,
Swim.x
'“My head burns with the fever when
The memories return.
They make me nauseous with disgust;
The guilt makes my face burn.' -
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What was the title of the book? Thank you for your kind words and for the comment. I'm definitely working on trying to talk about it, at least through poetry. I have to confess that I'm no good at actually talking about it in real life, but writing about it can be ok sometimes. Thanks for hosting this contest. I hope my entry wasn't too depressing...
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It's called 'Our Little Secret' by Allayne Webster. Nope, your entry was fine
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I loved this piece so much. My girlfriend was raped and I have PSTD so I can relate to this all immensely. You truly are an amazing writer. Keep this up, I love it. Great write.
Tal.
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I'm really sorry to hear that your girlfriend also experienced this trauma, and that you suffer from PTSD. I hope that both of you are able to heal, and that you will benefit from each other's support. Thank you for the comment.
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okay... so what is her true ailment? huh? This is so well written. I really like it. Great write. Keeps wonderful pace and makes total sense to me.
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Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it and that it makes sense.
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Intense
Dude....dude....this is absolutely intense!!! I would say it is scary, but at the same time immediately sad. I didn't know where you were going at first, but after I got it in the end, I actually held my hand to my mouth in sadness...this is a true, true tragedy & I pray to God that this is NOT a reality for you, my friend. Such horrors should be buried...forever...
Stephanie
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Thank you for the kind comment. It actually is a reality for me; I am a survivor of rape, and I currently have the flu, which is what inspired this rambling mess of a poem. I wasn't a "little girl" when the incident occurred; I was fifteen. I guess you could say this poem isn't really about me then, especially since it's in third person. It's definitely rather personal though.
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