“Broken Places” is an artistic fusion of poems, essays, prose and joined ponderings about the “fault lines that tremor and quake …aftershocks” when the “icy fingers “from the sudden stranglehold of childhood memories hover through a lifetime of dealing with abuse. Rachel Thompson quotes Einstein’s observation that the separation of past, present, and future are illusion and says this is why the mind throws flashbacks at us as we move back and forth between points of childhood trauma and ordinary thought. Rachel points out that the mind and nervous system have no concept of time as they sling past terrors into the present and our bodies respond as if currently under attack. Such are the slings and arrows of PTSD. Shame hides under behavior designed to free us even for a moment from the subconscious riptide. Hypervigilance, even in sleep is common for survivors who often suffer night terrors that seem impossible to tame
In poems like china tea cups thin to the point of transparency, Rachel leads the reader to emotionally shattering places. New delicately decorated cups appear with each poem as the story of Rachel’s child abuse unfolds. This well-written book reminds me of a garment embroidered with silk thread that gives slick texture and body to the story. The shards pile up as the tale of a shredded soul develops. Rachel teases the reader as she moves around the edges of her subject matter, arousing curiosity that she satisfies. The broken places seek each other and form in a healthier way as Rachel does repair work on her psyche.
The brutalities of sexual assault are dealt with head on and with a deceptively delicate touch that will ambush the reader later with full meaning. Rachel, the weaver of garments of healing works at her loom so the reader can receive a personal cloak of restoration.
“Broken Pieces” includes a valuable and possibly lifesaving array of organizations to help survivors.