A one-woman show commemorates Veteran’s Day by encouraging a discussion about Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. PTSD and Me: A Journey Told Though Poetry will be presented at The Overtime Theater on Sunday, November 8, at 6 p.m. Author, activist, poet, and performer Erika Land is a 21st-century war poet known for her creative writing and her involvement in the lesbian…
Vet Erika Land pulls poetry from her PTSD
“I had to shut off my emotions. The only emotion was anger.” Erika Land’s memories of her deployment at a military hospital in Iraq include a military pilot’s brain fragments spilling out over her hands. She began obsessively washing them. She’s since recovered from that compulsion, but other symptoms of her PTSD are not as…
Trauma isn’t confined to the battlefield
In 2015, transgender military members risk administrative separation, meaning the person is forced out of the service, typically with no educational or retirement benefits. Love and change are not mutually exclusive terms. Unfortunately, fear creeps in when there is change. I love this country and tear up when the national anthem is played. Lately,…