Fading is the therapy written poetry book by singer/pianist Raven Oak

Raven Oak

Raven Oak is an American singer, pianist and songwriter, whose works deal with the survival side of life. As a survivor of both abuse and an attempted rape, Raven Oak strove to free herself from the confines of the silence often present in victims of abuse and rape.She grew up in many places...

. Filled with seven years of poetry, this book explores the depth and pain in surviving both rape and abuse. The book is divided into four chapters or sections, with each section of poetry becoming darker in subject manner than the last. The back cover of the book demonstrates the "darkness" of this poetry book through the sketch of a ghost hanging by a noose.

While the book is dedicated to multiple people, the book is also dedicated to Tempest Smith

Tempest Smith

Tempest Kayne Smith was a 12-year-old girl from Lincoln Park, Michigan, USA who committed suicide by hanging on February 20, 2001. Based on the contents of her diary, the cause of the suicide was assumed to be bullying by her classmates at Lincoln Park Middle School...

, a 12 year-old girl from Lincoln Park, Michigan who committed suicide by hanging. The reason for her suicide was bullying by classmates.

Being a survivor of an attempted rape, author Raven Oak is a member of RAINN

RAINN

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is an American anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims, and to ensure that rapists are brought to justice.RAINN...

. This book donates to RAINN

RAINN

The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network is an American anti-sexual assault organization, the largest in the United States. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims, and to ensure that rapists are brought to justice.RAINN...

, the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network.

Written about a moment when author Raven Oak asked a friend for forgiveness, Eyes on Faces is one poem that stands out from this collection of poetry.

Eyes on Faces

I wondered if I was okay when I asked if you were

I pondered my sanity for asking such a question

why would you answer me in my humbled state

why would you turn over your years of hate

only because i asked it of you

Just when i thought i was out of the storm

I discovered I was in the eye when all i needed

was one word, one simple expression

but i got silence

and then i got regret

i screamed at a wall to see if it would answer

since nothing else hears me and knows i exist

i called out to a stranger to not cross the street

but to swim it when the rain started

why would you mind that sometimes I’m bitter though i know better

why would you care that i feel a lack of support by my own hand

only because i didn’t ask it of you i couldn’t

just when i thought i had not harbored resentment

i found i was a planet of bitterness and guilt

all that would stop the war in me was one simple care,

one moment of time

but I got ignored

and then I got angry

How can i let myself give in to my anger

when the disease eats in before out

how can i give in to such resentment

when the prospect of friends is impossible apparently

though occasionally i find the eye again in the peaceful moment of time

but why would you take the steps I took to say

“Yeah, i got it.” Or “I understand. Thanks for telling me.”

Why would you open yourself to the unknown,

that would make you so abnormal

and just when i thought you’d understand what I needed to say

I felt that I knew what you felt before all I said

was full of anger

and bitterness

so i got nothing

and i deserve nothing.