#IBuyYourPamphlet: WEEK 19

‘Scenes of Silent Horror’
by Lauren Ruddock

I’ve stopped being that person / The pain is just a niggle, no more a stab.

Lauren Ruddock lives and works in York. She has poems published in the ‘Creative Expressions’ anthology, and has authored a poem used in a nationwide video campaign by the organization Time to Change during Mental Health Awareness Week in 2020.

This selection of twelve poems tells a story about abuse and its consequences, something that resonates very strongly with me. Watching someone have the courage to write about these experiences is the reminder of how words are powerful not just as instigators, but as a means of repairing damage.

What’s in it for Me?

This story begins with Boundary Lines: how being trusting and open has its disadvantages, and how people can and often do take advantage. As we travel through each poem, Lauren makes it very clear how one relationship can have two sides, and that duality can be dangerous and painful over time. These are strong words, neatly woven and with an undoubted confidence in the process.

When we arrive at New Chapter, it is with an undoubted sense of optimism. The story doesn’t end here, of course, there is the possibility of so much yet to come in Lauren’s work and I hope that there is more poetry forthcoming in the future. Having seen some of the work produced in their advocacy role for York Ending Stigma, it would be wonderful to see more.

Don’t let the simplicity of this slim volume deceive you: these are powerful, significant pieces with genuine and heartfelt emotional resonance. As a great believer of poetry as a tool for therapy, this pamphlet is very much a shining example of what can happen if you listen to your heart and let that be recorded on the page. Everybody can learn something new from reading new work. Lauren’s illuminate a journey to both peace and enlightenment.