re-/ Can Poetry Hold Us All?: A Journey Out of Trauma-Based Writing

Abstract

re- and the accompanying essay "Can Poetry Hold Us All?: A Journey Out of Trauma- Based Writing" explore the complex relationship between trauma, creativity, and recovery through a poetic and reflective lens. It chronicles the author’s journey from writing that was deeply entrenched in personal trauma to a re-imagined creative practice grounded in healing, presence, and self-renewal. Initially trapped in cycles of repetition and emotional exhaustion, the author confronts the limitations and mental toll of trauma-based writing. Through intentional disengagement from past themes and the development of new coping mechanisms, the author begins a process of creative re-discovery. The resulting poetry collection, re-, deliberately omits contextual details and instead emphasizes the emotional and thematic aftershocks of experience—loss, uncertainty, and hope—allowing readers to engage freely and empathetically. Influenced by experimental poetics, the gothic tradition, and writers such as Aase Berg, Orlando White, and Ross Gay, the work prioritizes fluidity, ambiguity, and the power of the present. The thesis is ultimately a testament to the ability to re-build a sustainable and life-affirming writing practice, one that moves with—and not against—the self.