Bio for Jenny Olson
Jenny Olson wants her words to make people both feel and think. She writes from the extremes of the human experience. From human trafficking to freedom, addiction to recovery, abuse to redemption. A survivor of complex trauma and a widow forging a new life, Olson is a fearless poet whose work has appeared in online and print journals, as well as multiple anthologies. Her writing confronts the hard truths people often avoid—what is done to us, and what we do to ourselves—with an unflinching, no-holds-barred intensity. Her debut collection, "Winter of Pink Flamingos", is available on Amazon. Her latest collection "Echoes & Whispers - My Ancestor Poems is available on Amazon now.
These poems are the musings of an angry woman.
Time Will Tell
story is an old one
an old lady in trouble
no knight to save her
all she has
is herself
working through
tears that won't stop
just a little girl
trying to hold
her big person
together
with duct tape
and fantasies
time will tell
how her story ends
and if she lets
this little girl save her
she always thought
she'd save the
little girl
now she knows
healing has to start
back where it started
to her eight-year old self
and daddy's good night kisses—
a lifetime of pain
and bad choices
time to sit back
and let the younger her
drive them forward
but only time will tell
Jenny Olson 4/30/25
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2026
Trust a Sorry
maybe the one
and only sorry
i got from him
the last night he lived
did mean something
after a lifetime
it was all i got
and maybe
just maybe it was
enough
and if i believe that
i can let go
of the anger
and the pain
to begin to heal
i'll try
to trust a sorry
Jenny Olson 4/12/26
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2026
No Reconsidering Here
been thinking lately
about him, my dead husband
and our story
finding grace
and forgiveness
for the much younger me
and choices i made
i would do
it all over again
the same way
in my mind
there were no
other choices
not after my life
before i met him
would it have been
of course
to not be controlled,
bruised and abused
fuck yes
but life has never been easy
i've lived a life
as the saying goes
so many hidden hurts
the kind a life of abuse
leaves
it made me kind
with a hell of a temper
but kind
so many years
but no
i wouldn't
reconsider my life
any differently
Jenny Olson 4/18/26
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2026
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬
memories
those things under rocks
or hiding in the dark corners
of my closet
often coming back
unbidden
my memories
are like my trauma
they can be
both bad and good
at the same time
like his touch was
which leads to
heart confusion
which one wins?
problem with memories—
is i never know
back under the rocks
they go
Jenny Olson 4/13/26
Jenny Olson The Poet
𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧
i tried the ruby shoes
clicking and clicking
can't say i went home
ever
can you ever
go home again?
when home is
inside you?
going home
once more
Jenny Olson 4/11/26
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2026
Hippo In the Room
no elephant in my family
was a hippo in the room
one of the most dangerous critters
jaws will chomp you,
take you down
it was turning around
in circles in the living room,
nowhere to hide
the hippo said
"Let's keep her invisible!"
why did the hippo
want to take me down?
i was so young
and scared
never hurt anyone
but i told about daddy,
got blamed,
tried to die, failed
young girl passed out
on living room couch
saved by my boy scout
baby brother
and then the hippo
moved in to stay
keep down
nope, i refused
to be unseen
make enough noise
they'd have to notice me
not talk about me
like i wasn't there
no therapy for us—
she's at fault
and the hippo said yes
so I had to fight
that hippo for years
until i left
when i left
the hippo went back
to wherever
he came from
but it didn't know
that i would be back
stronger than ever
and loud
came back screaming
like a banshee in the night
a warning to the hippo
that a lioness
came back
not a scared girl
the woman
who roars
no more
hippo in the room
Jenny Olson 5/19/25
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2025
Before You Left
Before You Left
i never got the chance
to ask you to leave
my heart
when you left
give it back whole
and unscathed
healed from the
years of "us"
you just died with no real remorse
and no one told
me what being
your widow would mean
no one prepared me for
the grief of loving you
no one told me
that i would have to
make decisions on my own
what to eat, what to wear
trying to do these
and step out into a world
i don't know how to navigate
without you telling
me what to say, how to manage
and i never got the chance
to say i hated you
as the mantle of abuse was lifted
and i had to figure
out how to live
how to move forward
and would never forgive you
before you left me
broken and alone
standing in the middle
of all the parts of me
with a heart that
may never heal
Jenny Olson 11/1/24 - rewtire 11/27/24
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2024
Scriblles on a Napkin
From: Winter of Pink Flamingos
somewhere west
off Route 66
is a truck stop
that's seen better days
formica counter tops
red, fake leather booth backs
teased blond hair
too much makeup
hair in a messy bun
typical waitress on the strip
but she had dreams
of being a writer
a poet
truckers liked her boobs
her smile, her laugh
hit on her every day
but she was a writer
a poet
served their coffee
on poem-covered napkins
laughed too loud
too much lipstick
always smiling
teasing them all
no enemies in her realm
typical waitress on the strip
they started coming
not for her boobs
not for her smile or her laugh
stopped hitting on her
they started coming
for her words
they shared those words
with other burly truckers
reading poetry out loud
she leaned back against the counter
and smiled
pulled a notepad out
of her apron pocket
and wrote poetry
like she was born to do
she was a writer
a poet
Smoke is In the Air
smoke is in the air
something burning somewhere
it's her, she's burning
the little life she has is burning
his sickness takes away
the last thing she had for herself
the life she fought
so hard to make within the walls
he built around her
no more chats before logging in
no more bitching after meetings
no more meetings
truth be told, she liked meetings
no more working from hospital
instead of working from home
her career, her identity of her
she had made something of herself
all burning up
like the end of her childhood
burned up for him, he took and took
she knew she didn't get back
but there's smoke in the air
and no way to put that fire out
It burns down to coals
that crush under her feet
smoke is in the air
Jenny Olson 4/3/2024
Jenny Olson The Poet © 2024
Rataplan
i hear you drumming
against the walls,
of your urn
what remains of you
is angry
no little drummer boy, here
i move forward
leaving you
leaving the life we had
all behind
telling the secrets
that almost took me out
but now i realize
many were yours
not mine
stop your banging
on that fancy ass urn
wish it was anywhere but here
most days
but our kids know
where to find you
and so do i
all too well
rataplan
when i don't answer
you chase me in my sleep
i need peace
quiet
i hear it in my dreams
trauma nightmares
you chasing me
down some dark alley
footsteps pounding
the beating of my heart
frighten, i wake
sit up, unsettled
again
rataplan
time for quiet
fucking leave me alone
Jenny Olson 2/19/25
Jemmy Olson The Poet © 2025