Elaina, a RISE Healthy Housing and Support Services Supported Housing resident, shares this deeply personal poem about the transformation she has gone through since living in Supported Housing. Writing and creating poetry is a great way for many people to self-affirm their personal power and creativity.
Thank you Elaina for sharing your poems with us.
Saved
I had traveled alone for so long,A broken spirit, a weary soul.I had no dreams left, all hope was gone,My life had spun horribly out of control.Nothing ever seemed to ease the ache,The gut-wrenching emptiness within.The agony of loss, loneliness, heartbreak.I felt I had reached my end.The misery didn’t come all at once.It progressively worsened over time.To go on, just existing, made no sense.My life didn’t amount to one thin dime.I viewed the world as a gas can,My temper, I saw as the lighter.So damn close to my last stand..A voice inside said, STOP! YOU ARE A FIGHTER!I knew the fight would mean more painThere was no guarantee I’d even win.Yet, I had to try to live again,I had to control the spin.Admittedly, in self pity,I’d wallowed for quite a while.Looking back, it wasn’t prettyBut, at that time I was in denial.It’s truly amazing how things can changeIn the span of five or six short years.Life is beautiful mystery, sometimes strange,I can now laugh as I cry, silly, happy tears.Sometimes I do still walk aloneBut, it’s my choice because I’m free.I’m delighted to be on my own.Most of all, I’m happy, content to be just me.
Elaina has been writing poetry since she was 14. She took advanced literature classes in high school where she learned how to write poems.
Some of her poems were published in a local paper in Vermont where she grew up. In 2013, some of her poems were published in an anthology called Hear Me, See Me: Incarcerated Women Write.
The love of writing poetry has stayed with Elaina throughout her life and she has used it as a coping skill for many years.