Ripples of Resilience
we are silent, sitting on empty park benches,
gently throwing pebbles into a pond.
i feel a plunge deep within,
as a dense circle forms within the water.
these are where our memories form,
like ripples penetrating out of our minds,
waves of shame wash my dreary eyes.
these ripples circle inwards towards my soul,
my past feels like my present.
my body responds in the safest way it knows how,
like ice shielding a pond in the middle of February,
my mind is frozen, my brain takes over my consciousness.
thoughts culminate into a spiral of emotions.
i did not yell.
i did not fight back.
i did not want this for myself.
we breathe in,
we breathe out.
as vivid memories fade,
like the s p a c e s between the rings of a ripple.
we are silent, sitting on empty park benches,
gently throwing pebbles into a pond.
Within the culture of sexual violence, survivors often face barriers in cultivating self-expression and retaining their autonomy because they feel trapped within the realms of a patriarchal system. As an Indo-Canadian immigrant woman, I am aware of the trade-off between marginalization and privilege and believe this self-expression is constructed of various modes of privilege where some individuals have more access to sexual-violence welfare programs than others.
The poem “Ripples of Resilience” wishes to provide an anti-sexual violence lens to readers, as it compares ripples in the water to a survivor’s path to healing. The ripples allude to the “spiral of healing”, a therapeutic technique that aims to assist individuals with feelings of grief, and to help with the healing of past wounds. Ultimately, the poem serves to provide a voice to those who might not have the opportunity to express themselves, as well as to empower more individuals in society to educate others on anti-sexual violence.
