Where the Flies Swarm

A collection of poems from 2010-2019 that represent my experiences as a sex trafficking survivor.While recently healing from severe trauma, I traveled back to poems I wrote during the earlier years of being trafficked. I found many poems I wrote while feeling lost, confused, and trapped. I decided to write this book, collect these poems, and bind them back together to provide a glimpse of what that life was like: a life of unimaginable violence, hopelessness, and isolation. I did not...
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A collection of poems from 2010-2019 that represent my experiences as a sex trafficking survivor.While recently healing from severe trauma, I traveled back to poems I wrote during the earlier years of being trafficked. I found many poems I wrote while feeling lost, confused, and trapped. I decided to write this book, collect these poems, and bind them back together to provide a glimpse of what that life was like: a life of unimaginable violence, hopelessness, and isolation. I did not understand I was being trafficked until years after it began. I was also silent about it for a long time, didn't believe my own experience, suffered through episodes of depersonalization, lied about the realities of my life, and had to come to terms with my situation before I started reaching for outside help. I know I am not the only victim of these intrapersonal circumstances, and I believe that bringing awareness to the different and unique circumstances of what human trafficking can look like will help identify more cases from the inside, as well as allow people to have the language to identify when they are being trafficked. I hope that whoever holds this book can comprehend the sense of being monetized, objectified, lost, and alone through the lifestyle and culture of human sex trafficking. Along with bringing an awareness to the personal experiences and trauma of the trafficking world, I also hope to display the aptitude for strength, revival, bravery, and resilience that people like myself are forced to fight statistical outcomes with, as well as fight for the lives we deserve. Only about 1-2% of sex trafficking victims are recovered. These statistics are terrifying. However, it does not mean that our voices need to be silenced any more than they already are by our handlers, Johns, pimps, and other enabling members of society. Where the Flies Swarm is a chance for a survivor's voice and story to be heard, felt, and deeply appreciated. I'm not only speaking on my behalf, but also the other 98-99% of survivors who will never be able to share their story.