Betrayal by a mate is wound enough,
but betrayal by elected leaders is another wound entirely.
We place in their hands the keys to atomic annihilation,
and still they turn against us.
Once trust is broken, the ground falls out.
Let them trumpet, bellow, and groan—
there is nowhere left for them to hide.
Silence does not mend it.
The realization strikes the survival instinct like a warning light in a long, dark tunnel.
It asks for adjustment, for healing, for rebirth into a new world.
The question is simple: can you?
Can we grow stronger, restore self-care, set firm boundaries, and learn to trust again?
Yes—
but healing keeps its own time.
Published by
C. S. De Dona
Author, Poet, Photographer, domestic violence survivor, and naturalized immigrant, Cornelia is currently an Arts and Letters member of The Southwest Florida Branch of The National League Of American Pen Women.
Cornelia lived in Kaneohe, Hawaii, for thirty-six years. Also, seven years in the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York. She now resides in North Fort Myers, Florida.
Her poems and photography are published in print, online, and in Rain Bird, a literary and art journal of the University of Hawaii's Windward Community College (2008-2013).
In 2013, Cornelia received Rain Bird's Kolokolea Poetry Prize for her poem, "Speaking French."
In 2016, her chapbook "Hawaiian Time," entered in the National League of American Pen Women's Vinnie Ream contest, was awarded third place in their inaugural multi-discipline category.
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