A poem shared by Jaimee Johnson, a Lived Experience Expert of domestic street sex trafficking.

Born into the world with a lens so beautiful

She saw the world as if there were no limits…

Breathtaking...

No fears no questions... just endless possibilities of good and kindness 

Her lens was vibrant and free

Until she reached the age of three... 

her lens was first shifted as she started to see 

That maybe the world wasn't all she thought it could be...

See her mama met a man... and decided they were all going to pick up and go... 

but her mama couldn't wait, so three days she and her siblings were left alone

Till her dad finally found out and came to the rescue... but he had no place for them to go so to mama they went once more... 

a new life began... and by age 5 the lens was getting even dimmer... 

watching her mama and that man fight every evening before dinner...

She covered her ears hoping the yelling would stop... 

and it did... 

because the rage went from his mouth to his fist... 

and mamas rage fought back... 

it was always a broken and bloody sight... 

the cops always came at the end of every fight...

By age 6 when the police kept taking mama to jail 

Because her bruises hadn't surfaced yet but his blood always prevailed... 

her lens got fogged as he put his fingers inside her... 

and showed her his manly parts she had only seen on her brother when they innocently shared a bath together... 

but this wasn't innocent... 

no this was a bit different... 

this was meant to hurt her.

By age 10 after hopping around from home to home…

that lens turned into a mask... she made sure to keep on at all times... 

as time went on… 

she grew weary of her body... her hair that was red and her freckles... 

she did any and everything just to try to

Make friends... 

but by age 12 her lens to the world started to see evil. 

She no longer tried to figure out ways to fit in... she just kinda... 

existed.

By age 14 she found that boys paid attention... but only to the girls that looked different than her... 

so when a football player came along and flirted a lil... 

She trusted him, i mean it must have been love, especially the first time he hit her 

she figured the way to show him her love was through sexual pleasure... 

rumors stirred as people found out she was pregnant... 

15 and a child? 

There's no way that can happen... 

so to the clinic she went… her father by her side... her baby’s father no where in sight. 

She went numb as the dr scraped out her first baby... 

from Deep inside.

And after her and her first boyfriend finally broke up, she soon met a charmer who used her ignorance to benefit a buck 

27 he was, remember she was only 15 —

He would roofie her drink 

while he sold her body for cheap 

Shamed and confused she continued to seek acceptance through what she could offer a man... 

so as you can imagine... not even a year later 

Growing inside her was baby #2...

16 years and you can see how experience changes her lens view 

This one she kept... with her boyfriend by her side... they stood hand in hand to

Buckle up for this ride... 

raising a baby... well we know that's not cheap... 

so at 17 she dropped out of

School... 

Worked full time to make sure her and her family could eat... 

life seemed just fine... the fog on the lens was clearing... 

as she approached 19... their second child was stirring... 

marriage was the sure solution... to a happy ending... 

oh if only she knew at 19... this was only the beginning... 

a year full of what seemed to be bliss... 

every morning started... and every evening ended... with a meaningful kiss

Things started changing though... 

at 20 her and her husband grew apart... 

she couldn't figure out why it was so different than the start... 

and affair was in the air... she could feel her husband going astray... 

and not far after she found out... the father of her children and her supposed to be forever husband... 

was in fact gay. 

Broken and betrayed... she could

Barely tell Left from right... drowning but focus on her kids was what she was gasping to try and keep

In Sight... 

not too long after... she wanted to go out... have a little fun... 

since her and the kids had been at home struggling to even keep the lights on... 

drunk and lonely... she connected with a man... little

Did she know... about his life-changing game plan... 

confiding in him... even giving him her body... 

he knew just how to speak

To her properly...

Promises of a happy ending... and stability were back in view... 

but how she had to accomplish that... 

well that truly broke her view...

As she approached her 21st birthday... 

she was no longer her own... property of

Pimpin... his name branded on her skin

Her gift for her birthday... was her very first rape... 

police brushed it off as a trick who

Got a free "date"

22 and 23... her lens got bashed by his angry fists... 

at least she had been prepared for it early when she watched the abuse at age 5&6

The anger hurt less when she popped the pills and snorted the coke... 

the rapes got easier and the dates got manageable... as long as drugs helped her escape... 

by her mid 20's the lens were so blurred... she can't even recall a timeline... just events... of the things that brought her to try to Pop one pill too

Many and snort one line too much...

In the hospital she woke, the overdose didn’t work 

seems there were other plans

... because alive and back

On those streets... she found herself till her late 20's

By 26... enough had been enough... 

One song on that stage, 

one private dance too many

One seizure and blackout too many

One random man’s house 

One pair of nasty hands

One rape 

One abortion 

One trauma

Too many 

Too many days in jail

Too many hotels 

Too many days without her children 

Too many drugs 

Too much pain 

Death or change these were the only options

So she ran... 

she ran to find a new lens and pray they were clear so she could

Figure out how to get her life back where it belonged... 

but how? 

Would you guess at 26 she is pregnant all

Over again... but this time was different she felt it in her soul...

She would reconcile and step into her most important role... 

a mother and mentor... all while

Healing along the way... 

surely making mistakes... but never looking back unless it's to see what she had overcome 

Growing and fighting to heal from the cuts of the lens... she managed to create a life worth living once again 

God told her clear at 27 years old... your son... your girls... this life is no mistake... I'm Trusting in you… as I have seen all you can take...

Your second chance... the time is now... it's now time

Time for

You to show others how 

How to overcome 

How to live and love 

How to forgive

How to break free and speak their truth 

How to turn pain to power and how to

Touch another's soul

This my young queen is 

Your true purpose and role

So as the fog lifted... and the cracks in the lens faded... 

she started to see the world in a new light... no

Longer jaded

This was a familiar place... she recognized this view

And then she realized God had restored her lens back to

Their original View.