Viola’s* Voice
“Don’t Let the Past Define You”
By Viola*
Viola is a survivor of human trafficking. These are her words; her story.
By listening, you honor her. By hearing her truth, you see there is more to her story.
*Name changed to protect confidentiality
The Girl on the Corner
There’s a girl on the corner.
She stands there with her head lowered and not a sound.
She is thin and hungry.
She works there all day.
She is the broken one.
She dreams of better days with the family she hasn’t seen in years.
She is the one you pass daily.
As you judge, she has but one person in her life, he is around the corner, watching and waiting for her wages.
What you don’t know is she is a warrior, a fighter.
She will come across battles of her life, stay and die or run and live.
So don’t judge her or just pass her by.
Show her love for she fights everyday just to survive.
How do I know?
I’m a survivor.
I was that girl on the corner.
The Girl in the Mirror
To the girl in the mirror.
For years I could not look at you.
I saw scars and wasted time, until I saw you today, fifty years later.
I stopped and looked at you. Rubbing you with my hands, I could see my mother’s hands, and a grin came upon my face.
Then those eyes, those eyes are of my young nieces.
Your freckles are your father’s.
Your nose, it is of your son’s. A nose of curiosity.
I can feel my grandmother’s blood run through me for the first time.
I know I am a warrior and survivor, just like the women in my life.
The Shadow Man
There is a shadow man I loved.
He came to me bright and shiny with all the words and possessions my heart desired.
I spent many years with this shadow man, and yes, I loved him.
As the months go by, we lay there hungry and struggling.
He looks me in the eyes and holds me, saying he is as hungry as I am too.
We need fast money, help us just this one time.
See, I loved him.
So, I did, I wanted to help.
Years down the line I stood in my living room with the shadow man and his follower.
Then I was sold to the highest bidder.
You see, I was under the spell of the shadow man.
He waited in the next room for my wages.
I was broken inside and shattered outside.
I was scared as he kicked my door in time after time.
One day, a voice inside me said run. Break the chains and RUN.
When the shadow man left for coffee, I RAN.
I still remember looking back, scared he was coming.
My feet were free, so I kept running.
The gates of hell opened, and I left that shadow man.
I broke the chains, but it will take years for me to get back what he took from me.
I am a survivor.
I am a mother.
I am a daughter.
I am a sister.
Only I will remember that as I walk slowly every day
