Women of Wounds

Selena Raja, Serena Raja

Description

A compilation of diverse poems and original illustrations created by twin sisters who offer unique perspectives on their lives and the world around them.
I’m a woman of wounds
Who’s felt too much too soon.
Been lonely for a hundred years,
Cried a couple oceans of tears.
––Selena Raja
Our sensitive tears would flow down our cheeks,
Like leaves falling off an autumn tree.
They would continue to fall until they hit the cold concrete,
Leaving a pool of tears beneath our feet.
––Serena Raja
Even twins have different experiences in life and perspectives about those experiences.
In a debut collection of poetry, Serena and Selena Raja share verse penned individually over the course of seven years that explore numerous hardships in life that include mental illness and war. With the desire to provide hope and comfort to others that they are not alone in the struggles they face and that with every hardship there is relief, Serena and Selena reflect on depression, fake friends, regret, tragedy, and much more in a compilation inspired by their passion to raise awareness for mental health and the horrors that civilians face in war-torn countries.
Women of Wounds shares diverse poems and original illustrations created by twin sisters who offer unique perspectives on their lives and the world around them.

Sujets

• Honesty
• Poetry
• Deep

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse UK
• Date de parution: 12 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781728379395
• Langue: English

Extrait

WOMEN of WOUNDS






SERENA AND SELENA RAJA









AuthorHouse™ UK
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403 USA
www.authorhouse.co.uk
Phone: UK TFN: 0800 0148641 (Toll Free inside the UK)
UK Local: (02) 0369 56322 ([phone] from outside the UK)







© 2023 Serena and Selena Raja. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 12/12/2022

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7940-1 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-7283-7939-5 (e)






Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.



Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.



CONTENTS
Preface

Living Nightmare
What Is Depression?
When Do You Feel Prettiest?
Fake Friends
Your Loss
Woman Of Wounds
What School Doesn’t Teach Us
One Beating Rhythm
Van Gogh
Blinded
November
My Friend, Ana
Regret
Even Salt Looks Like Sugar
Melancholic Tune
Sweet Sixteen
Ben And Jerry
Oxygen
Pantomime
Sick And Tired
Relapse
Her
Tears
The Day The World Lost Its Colour
Me, Myself, You, And I
Remember Them
Betrayal
Too Many Years Later
Wake Up!
Reason To Live
Colourless
Rabbit Hole
Demons And Me
A Future With You
Ashes
A Story To Tell
Revival

Acknowledgments



PREFACE
Since the age of twelve, Serena began exploring creative writing, usually to address issues relating to wars in Syria, which began to surface the media then. As Serena grew older, she experienced various challenges and implemented them in her writing. It wasn’t until a few years later that Selena took this muse as an outlet to express her own battles with mental illness. With time, these issues seemed to manifest and didn’t improve. Issues of mental illness and war were still heavily stigmatised and dismissed, so they decided to use their passion for creative writing to raise awareness of such troubles and to help people like them.
Since the twins have different experiences, they wrote most of their poems individually over the course of seven years. Not until they decided to publish their intimate work did Selena surprise Serena with a letter confirming a book deal with AuthorHouse on their twenty-first birthday. From there, they have both worked on the publication of this poetry book with their heart and soul. The poems follow a similar layout throughout; poems begin on a new page with the poem title at the top of the page and the writer of that poem below it. Some titles include illustrations, which were created by the author of that certain poem.
Before you continue reading any further, is important to know that this book will not cure you. Nor will your troubles disappear after you have read it. Although Women of Wounds is referred to as a ‘guide’ in the final poem, this statement is only metaphorical. What Women of Wounds intends to do is raise awareness of stigmatised issues, to comfort the lonely, and to prove that with every hardship comes ease. The ease we received after our experiences was the fortunate opportunity to publish this book, which will hopefully help audiences who are experiencing similar troubles. So, we hope you find comfort in our words, we hope they help you like they helped us, and we truly hope that your ease is soon.

















Verily , with every hardship there will be ease.
[Quran 94:5]



LIVING NIGHTMARE
Serena Raja

As you’d creep deeper into the depths of hell,
You’d be horrified by the stench and the trails,
Of dead bodies lugged over to the side of the streets,
Like a butcher selling some meat.
Another bomb would be launched.
Bells would ring in ears, and they pray that this would all stop.
They would pummel to the ground like dominos;
Everybody knows that the roads are to be scattered with bones.
Children, the most innocent of us all, trapped under bricks and rocks.
And at such young ages, even they would pray that this will all stop.
Coral-red blood trickles down their cheeks
While they lay, panic, and scream.
Months of travelling overseas for survival and safety
Results in the tossing of infants’ bodies and
Several screams of, ‘God, please forgive me!’
Entitled to the name ‘refugees’ and yet still ignored by many,
How many more people will read these stories,
And then only whisper under their breaths the word ‘sorry’?
The long-term suffering of pain, fear, and torture,
Caused by the highest rank of power,
Continues to be ignored by those who know better.
How many more bodies must collapse to the ground
For people to stop pretending that this isn’t happening?