A Patchwork Woman

By Francine Lee A

When your heart hurts, know you're not alone. Too often, people who struggle with mental illness and trauma feel alone. A Patchwork Woman is a compilation of inspirational poems about life, family, friendship, and love from the perspective of a survivor of sexual assault, generational abuse, and domestic violence with borderline personality disorder. Written with brutal honesty, humor, and compassion, this inspirational poetry collection journeys through relationships, loss, personal discovery, and self-love while coping with mental illness. The poet created this empowering poetry collection to help others feel less alone in personal struggles with mental illness and processing trauma. Some poems make sense, while others bear witness to the chaos that mental illness and unhealed trauma create in our lives and relationships. The final chapters are about healing and acceptance, even though we're not perfect. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Francine Lee A
• Release date: Sep 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9798215983300

Book preview

A Patchwork Woman

Francine Lee A

Cover art by

Dorothy A. Anderson

A Patchwork Woman

Awakening a Warrior

Francine Lee A

Cover art by

Dorothy A. Anderson

lostwomanadventures.com

1. Edition, 2022

© 2022 by Francine Lee A All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Special Thanks

Trauma Drama

Bitter Love

Bittersweet Love

Family and Friends

Healing

Self-Love

About the Cover Art

About the Book

About the Author

Special Thanks

To my mom for always believing in me and pushing me to become a writer.

To my sister, Dorrie, who drew the picture of me on the front cover, thank you for always being my best friend.

To Uncle David, thank you for being there when no one else was.

To Grampy Freddy, here it is. I published a book before you died.

To Dr. Frankenberg, Dr. Zanarini, Tish, and Isabel thank you for being wonderful, supportive, and excited about my poetry.

To my sweet, sweet Jon, thank you for being a friend and lover, a cheerleader, my incredible support system, and the kindest man I know. You have my heart.

Trauma Drama

Patchwork Woman

I am a patchwork woman, ripped apart

My pieces lie around me in the dirt

The most damaged part of me is my heart

I fix myself with tape, cause stitches hurt

People feel entitled to take from me

They don't consider my feelings or needs

They took my pride, life, and virginity

They stole my childhood, planted bad seeds

That grew into trauma, anxiety,

Depression, PTSD, BPD, doubt, pain

Relationships, and lessons that wrecked me

My survival cost me, it broke my brain

As I lose everything to patch me up

I will survive, win, and fill my own cup

Inner Battles

Inside my head is a