At one point on my recovery journey, I was given the task of writing a letter to myself from God. This letter has become, for me, an anchor to a loving Higher Power so different to the punishing God of the Church of my youth.

Several years ago, I received a letter from my Aunt in which she told me about my Dad’s own childhood and the struggles that he endured. Although none of what he suffered justifies his abuse of me, it does help me understand that although he made his own choices, he too was a product of his own difficult experiences.

Don’t Tell Me is a poem that speaks to my deeply-held belief that no-one could love me if they knew what had happened to me.