The Whole Story

By Maggie Bowyer

The Whole Story is an attempt to capture trauma and the changes in our thought patterns as a result. After years of complex trauma one can feel like they are drowning in unrelenting crises. This can lead to an extremely abusive relationship. The Whole Story explores how trauma can intrude on our lives when we are finally safe and happy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Margaret Bowyer
• Release date: Nov 24, 2020
• ISBN: 9780578811949

Maggie Bowyer

Maggie Bowyer (they/he) is a poet, cat parent, and the author of various poetry collections including Allergies (2023) and When I Bleed (2021). They are a co-host of the podcast Baked and Bookish. They have been featured in The Abbey Review, Chapter House Journal, The Elevation Review, The South Dakota Review, Wishbone Words, and more. They were the Editor-in-Chief of The Lariat Newspaper, a quarter-finalist in Brave New Voices 2016, and a Marilyn Miller Poet Laureate. You can find their work on Instagram and TikTok @maggie.writes.

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The Whole Story

The Whole Story

The Whole Story

Maggie Bowyer

publisher logo

Margaret Bowyer

Copyright © 2020, The Whole Story by Maggie Bowyer

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic methods without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at the address below.

Maggie Bowyer

Greensboro, North Carolina

 www.maggiebowyer.com

ISBN: 978-0-578-81193-2

LCCN: 2020923545

Printed in the United States of America

First Printing Edition, 2020.

Thank You

This is for those who lifted me

Out of a pit of  trauma;

This is for those who stood by me

When my life was a sea

Of unrelenting crisis’.

This body of work

Is for the me that I saved,

To remember the me

That I couldn’t;

This is for me to remember

How I arrived here -

Wise Minded and present;

This is my story

Of survival

Turned to Whole existence.

The Fact Check

Who said a poem

Had to be anything more

Than honesty?

My values align

More than ever

On these pages.

Seeking Maternal Figure

What kind of mother

Cannot protect her child?

I know the fault wasn’t mine

But dammit some days

I cannot find the light;

The ones in your eyes

Used to shine so bright.

There is truly no fault,

Yet some days the sun

Is burning me to a crisp

And I remember you left your son,

And I am here without you.

I remember our fight

The eve before that morning

When you were gone without warning.

I cannot blame you

Because you’ve slipped

So far from my fingertips.

What kind of child

Can’t protect their mother?

I’m writing a thousand

Different poems here,

Yet none of them feel right.

I’m at a loss for words,

Searching for explanation

Through lyrical exploration;

When there is no reason

There are no metaphors.

When there is every reason

These words crash over

And threaten to destroy me.

I cannot find the stars

So far beneath these waves

Of insecurity and mistrust;

Their light has seemed to vanish.

What Would Your Ideal Day Look Like?

I sat for fifteen minutes

Trying to answer the first question

In none other than my own journal.

Questions to Know Thyself

Didn’t sound too promising anyway.

And so I put my journal away

And turned the TV back on.

Without the background noise

I’m able to hear my own thoughts,

And that’s one way

I don’t want to get to know myself.

Adoring Drags

They say I move on too easily,

But falling in love

Is the same as breathing for me.

Puffing through all of the smoke,

Coughing