Combat Trauma Politiku

Politiku are defined by Susanna Speier as ‘concise and poetic political commentary based on the structure of the 5-7-5 haiku’.  The politiku‘s concise format makes it a great vehicle for expressing personal reflections on trauma so, inspired by National PTSD Awareness Day, Susanna Speier set up a series of ‘politiku’ workshops for U.S. Military Veterans dealing with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder due to combat trauma.

While many in the U.S. celebrate the fireworks on the 4th July, combat veterans can find the experience stressful and isolating – bringing back terrrible memories of recent tours. Speier has encouraged combat veterans to write a politiku on the theme of fireworks – asking them to express how fireworks make them feel, how they remind them of traumatic times or happier times.

This politiku is written by Angela Peacock, a U.S. Army veteran, who served in Baghdad during the early days of the Iraq war.

Fire lights up the sky

Like old memories burning

Too much for my nerves

The politiku have been posted up on Facebook, the Healing Combat Trauma fan page and Susanna Speier’s own page with interesting results. More will be collected in Speier’s the comment section of the Huffington Post article. An interesting and very worthwhile project.