Reprinted from the Intergenerational Trauma issue of Visions Journal, 2023, 18 (2), pp. 3-4
Mother comes from want,
missing out,
not knowing where she comes from.
An object of desire,
a beauty queen.
Father comes from hands
laid on skin,
lessons learned turned to real pain.
A hard worker,
a strong king.
Together they met,
rough seas and roads lay ahead.
First came two brothers
from another mother.
Then me,
then another.
Chaos touched our lives.
But throughout there was
love
healing
family dinners
play
love.
Each of us still holds the others' pain,
but we will forever be a family of
love.
About the author
Lenae is an artist, opiate user, activist, and mover and shaker. She lives on Vancouver Island with her partner and two cats. Lenae works hard to provide outreach and advocacy to people with diverse lived and living experience of mental health challenges, poverty and substance use. She also seeks to enact policy change and education among service providers. Lenae is co-founder of Open Heart Collaborative (openheartcollaborative.com). Lenae's painting above her poem is Untitled, 2022
