Settled

This final section is quiet, reflective, and sacred. It doesn’t tie everything into a neat ending, because real healing rarely does. But the dust has settled. The quiet is no longer dangerous. Fatherhood is no longer shadowed by fear. Faith becomes personal. Love is no longer something that requires shrinking. This is not a celebration—it is a recognition. The violence ended, but the voice remained. And now, it speaks peace.

Order of Poems & Prose: The Wreckage – When I Finally Told the Whole Truth – Detox – The First Morning I Didn’t Cry – The Quiet Came Back Slowly – I Didn’t Think About You Today – She Asks About Them – God, Undressed – Settled

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

Settled

The Wreckage

Jonathan Valania

Because grief, at its gentlest, is just love that’s outlived its home.  

The Wreckage

Jonathan Valania

Because grief, at its gentlest, is just love that’s outlived its home.  

When I Finally Told the Whole Truth

Jonathan Valania

You knew. You chose. You did it anyway.

When I Finally Told the Whole Truth

Jonathan Valania

You knew. You chose. You did it anyway.

Detox

Jonathan Valania

Because withdrawal doesn’t feel like healing. It feels like missing the hands that pushed you under, just because they once pulled you back.

Detox

Jonathan Valania

Because withdrawal doesn’t feel like healing. It feels like missing the hands that pushed you under, just because they once pulled you back.

The Quiet Came Back Slowly

Jonathan Valania

I looked around the room and realized I was no longer waiting for something to break.  

The Quiet Came Back Slowly

Jonathan Valania

I looked around the room and realized I was no longer waiting for something to break.  

The First Morning I Didn’t Cry

Jonathan Valania

That morning, I put the cup down, breathed in, and realized I didn’t owe pain anything anymore.

The First Morning I Didn’t Cry

Jonathan Valania

That morning, I put the cup down, breathed in, and realized I didn’t owe pain anything anymore.

I Didn’t Think About You Today

Jonathan Valania

You used to live in every hallway of my mind. But today— you were nowhere.  

I Didn’t Think About You Today

Jonathan Valania

You used to live in every hallway of my mind. But today— you were nowhere.  

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