Becoming Borealis

Expressing trauma is an art form in and of itself, one that wears many masks: sculpture, sketch, song, painting, even poetry. Healing from trauma is the very same way and somehow a more beautiful piece upon completion. Poetry has always been the literary art of speaking in layers, much like healing from trauma comes in waves and is often hidden. The completion of a short chapbook themed around the poet’s childhood trauma is a task that not only encourages the practice of poetry as that literary art but allows the process of healing to occur through the completion of the chapbook. This was my goal with my forthcoming thesis: to heal myself as I created something that depicts healing in multiple forms.