Domestic abuse survivor finds her voice through poetry

Mackenzie Rose doesn’t know how she is still alive.

Shortly after turning 28, an attack at her home led to an eight-day stay in the hospital and required her to use a feeding tube.

Because her vocal cords and esophagus were damaged, her ability to speak was limited. She developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

But even when Rose couldn’t speak, she said poetry gave her a voice. As a survivor of domestic abuse, Rose, who is pursuing her Ph.D. at Virginia Tech, writes poetry to process the trauma that her mind and body have endured. With her degree, she hopes to eventually teach educators how to understand and empower students like her, who are survivors of trauma.

Maybe her beloved cats gifted her one of their nine lives she pondered in her poem “Nine Lives: A Question.”

Or maybe she can attribute her life to her mother’s intuition. After the attack, her mother sensed something was wrong and rushed to her house. There, she found her daughter lifeless on the floor and called for help.

For a while, Rose said it seemed important for her spiritually to pinpoint how she survived. She concluded that she may never have a definite answer.

“I just feel grateful that I wasn’t totally alone, somehow,” she said.

After months of therapy, Rose regained her ability to speak. Now 34, she is releasing a small book of poetry this month. She dedicated the book to her mother, who she said has “given her life twice.” Titled “Post-Traumatic Poetry,” the collection details life inside an abusive relationship and as a survivor of domestic violence.

“I have a background in English and writing and I pursued poetry pretty adamantly as an undergraduate student, and so it just came naturally to write the things that didn't make sense in a form like poetry that doesn’t always have rules,” Rose said. “It was very therapeutic.”

Rose earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Mary Washington in 2011 and her master’s degree in children’s literature from Hollins University immediately after. Since then, she has taught a wide range of students in classes spanning from pre-kindergarten, entry-level freshman programs, and advanced placement and dual enrollment language and literature. In 2022, she began her current role as an adjunct professor of English, education, and media and communications at Shenandoah University in Winchester.

She said she feels that teaching is her “ultimate purpose on this planet.” When she returned to work as a public school teacher after her attack, she said she felt as though she had a new superpower.

“I was able to hear the trauma in my students that I hadn’t been able to hear before,” she said.

That realization led her to Virginia Tech, where she is currently enrolled in the Individualized Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program. The program, launched in 2015, is designed to help students achieve specialized academic and professional goals.

Katalin Parti, assistant professor of sociology, is a member of Rose’s doctoral committee and encouraged Rose to share her poetry.

“In verses that breathe life into untold pain, Mackenzie Rose's poetry collection unveils the hidden wounds of domestic violence,” Parti said. “With words that cradle both sorrow and hope, they craft a sanctuary where healing begins and resilience thrives.”

Rose’s program focuses on trauma-informed storytelling and education. Inspired by her Appalachian roots and the folktales she heard growing up in Winchester, Rose said she is interested in the reasons people tell and need stories. She said storytelling can be a “protective factor” for individuals.  

“Writing poetry – it’s something that I used as a tool to survive after the domestic violence incident,” she said. “So I wanted to find the root of that. When did that first start?”

Her program incorporates English, education, human development, and sociology courses. Her dissertation focuses on empathetic educational environments – a subject matter that is close to her heart.  

One of the main messages she has learned during her journey is the importance of giving herself “the grace to learn how to be strong again.” It’s a message she shares with other survivors of domestic abuse.

“I recognize that I'm alive and I have so much good that I'm going to do with that,” Rose said. “But at the same time, I still have that darkness. But that doesn't make me a bad person or an incomplete person, or a person who is unable to do certain things.”

She often speaks at public functions about the importance of destigmatizing trauma.

According to the National Institutes of Health, nine out of 10 adults report they have experienced a traumatic event. The institute defines a traumatic event as a “shocking, scary, or dangerous” experience that can affect a person physically and emotionally. Common examples include natural disasters, acts of violence, and car accidents.

“It needs to be normalized and understood,” Rose said.

Rose said she envisions poetry being a constant in her life. As far as other career goals, she said she feels as though the “sky is the limit,” but that she intends to continue creating positive change in the world of education.

Virginia Tech offers resources for survivors of domestic abuse. Visit SAFE at VT for more information.