Traumatism by Julia Rose Lewis
Knives Forks and Spoons Press
According to the OED: 1. Pathology. The action of a wound or external injury in producing a morbid condition; the condition so produced. 2. Psychology and Psychiatry. A morbid condition of the psyche resulting from repression to the unconscious of emotional wounds or shock which are unacceptable to the conscious mind. Also loosely in general use, a shock or unpleasantly startling experience. Traumatism is more or less wound-ism. That is to say the beginning of every poem begins with the wound as the threads of life had to be unwound to understand. The poems embrace the pathological and psychological definitions of the word to include Medusa, sea potatoes, and goats. The form of this collection mimics the repetitive nature of complex post traumatic stress disorder. The trauma is ever present and yet not named beside the nightmare a recurring character that could be a horse and could be symptom. This ambiguity invites the reader to engage with the text in the manner of an editor to make meaning. "Traumatism, N."� Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3736369571 [accessed 23 January 2026].
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