Reclamation

Here, survival becomes restoration. The speaker doesn’t just get out—he begins to return to himself. We see the reemergence of faith, reimagined as something softer and more authentic. New relationships form. Fatherhood deepens. Healing is claimed without apology. These poems do not rush. They rebuild. They restore gentleness without giving up strength. Peace no longer feels foreign. It begins to feel like something that belongs.

Order of Poems & Prose: False Prophet – Inherited Ruin – Nicotine – Late Night Drives – Sentencing (courtroom prose) – Bullshit – No Contact – Panic – Faithful – Sanctified Silence – Psalm for the Unseen – God Doesn’t Cheat, So Why Did You in His Name? – Letters I’ll Never Send – Embers – Man Enough – The First Time I Didn’t Flinch – Teach Me Love

*Please be advised: This book contains references to physical and emotional abuse, child abuse, gaslighting, suicide threats, and domestic violence. Reader discretion is advised.

Reclamation

False Prophet

Jonathan Valania

You wore your cross like a crown, but never carried it.Just draped it over bruises you never earned—the ones you claimed I gave youwhen it was your hands, your fists,your...

False Prophet

Jonathan Valania

You wore your cross like a crown, but never carried it.Just draped it over bruises you never earned—the ones you claimed I gave youwhen it was your hands, your fists,your...

Inherited Ruin

Jonathan Valania

The air is thick, toxic— smothering the version of me I showed only to you. Looking back, you never wanted this— the white picket fence, the PTA, the suburban dream....

Inherited Ruin

Jonathan Valania

The air is thick, toxic— smothering the version of me I showed only to you. Looking back, you never wanted this— the white picket fence, the PTA, the suburban dream....

Nicotine

Jonathan Valania

"She was interesting —and forced me to focuson what mattered.The legacy I was leaving behind."

Nicotine

Jonathan Valania

"She was interesting —and forced me to focuson what mattered.The legacy I was leaving behind."

Late Night Drives

Jonathan Valania

"I have your favorite snacks—Hot cocoa, sour gummy worms, and more.I know you’re feeling down."And she smiled.Wide.

Late Night Drives

Jonathan Valania

"I have your favorite snacks—Hot cocoa, sour gummy worms, and more.I know you’re feeling down."And she smiled.Wide.

Bullshit

Jonathan Valania

“Two days"

Bullshit

Jonathan Valania

“Two days"

No Contact

Jonathan Valania

No contact.Five years. 1,825 days. 43,800 hours.And the hours are fucking slow.But it’s worth it all.

No Contact

Jonathan Valania

No contact.Five years. 1,825 days. 43,800 hours.And the hours are fucking slow.But it’s worth it all.

Read Letters I'll Never Send

What began as court documents, voicemails, and text messages became something more. It's a story about survival, truth-telling, and the long, sacred work of healing.

Letters I’ll Never Send is a raw, autobiographical collection of poems and prose written through the aftermath of emotional abuse. It speaks for the moments you couldn’t. It says what was never safe to say out loud.

Ordering the print edition includes exclusive poems and reflections not available online—and directly supports outreach efforts for survivors of domestic abuse.

This book is for the ones who made it out, and the ones still finding their way.

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Click here to view all the poems in Letters I'll Never Send