Lay Me Down Among the Words: A Collection of Poetry by a Trauma Survivor Whose Inner Voice Saved Her Life (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781982246624)

Deborah Bradt has been fascinated by words since she was old enough to hold a crayon. She began her poetic experiments first as a very young girl as her word explorations helped her to vent her deep-seated feeling of shame and loss that she could never seem to shake off. You see, Deborah was born in a traditional hospital setting. At the time of her birth, her parents were married. However, soon after she was born, her parents ended up getting a divorce. Although Deborah was a very young child, she still remembers feeling broken open by this experience of moving away from her father, David. W. Hallal. Although she lived a "charmed life" in Central Florida and had many material goods, she never truly felt safe and at ease in her body or in her life. She experienced much abuse in her life including sexual, verbal and physical abuse. She tried to take her own life several times, feeling that much of the hatred she felt from others was her fault. Creative self-expression and poetry, in particular, however, became Deb's best friend. Even as a small child, she would recite poetry in the middle of the night when she awoke from nightmares or when she had to leave home just to get away. Her words kept her going, through the darkest of times. Honestly, she does not think she would have been here on this planet at age 47 if she had not discovered her gift of playing with words. She ended up graduating from Florida State University in Interpersonal Communications with a minor in Creative Writing in 1993 and has never had a moment of her life since without a pen in her hand.. Deb is deeply and profoundly grateful to all those who supported this book project and Balboa Press for all their patience in getting this book published. It is literally a dream come true. Namaste.-Deborah Bradt, R.Y.T.