I am the Woman
Your Mother never thought of
A Frankenstein monster
Stitched together with trauma & tears
Holding a Darkness; my greatest strength
The one who’ll take the bullet
And annihilate the shooter
In one fell sweep
I am the Woman
Who bleeds in truthful ink
Who found her voice
After nights spent drowned in blood
Who clawed her way back to life
When there wasn’t much worth living for
Who cries each night
Over the graves inside my soul
I am the Woman who holds on
When everyone let’s go
A Woman your mother wouldn’t know
I’m the Woman who survives.

Mandy Kocsis-Troxell was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan; a fact she takes immense pride in. A Presidential Academic Fitness Award recipient, she is an advocate for survivors of domestic violence and was honored in Washington, D.C. as one of the top 500 domestic violence advocates of 2018. She resides in Indiana with her son and boyfriend, and cares full-time for her mother. A 3-time traumatic brain injury survivor who suffers from stage 4 kidney disease, her mother is in a wheelchair, and is the strongest woman she’s ever known.