What Survived in Me

What Survived in Me is an intimate poetry collection about the experiences that shape a woman and the strength that remains after hardship. Moving from childhood migration and cultural identity through love, alcohol misuse, domestic trauma, motherhood, faith, healing, and self-acceptance, Tassandra Barnaby gives language to emotions that are often carried in silence. Her poems combine vulnerability with vivid details drawn from Jamaican heritage, family, work, relationships, and everyday survival. Organized into five emotional sections, Roots, Under the Spell, Through the Shadows, Love That Anchors Me, and Becoming, this collection follows the journey of a woman learning to release shame, reclaim her voice, and recognize herself beyond what she has endured. Accompanied by thoughtful reflection pages, What Survived in Me invites readers to pause, write, and consider their own stories of love, loss, resilience, and becoming. This collection is for anyone who has survived a difficult chapter and is learning that healing does not erase the past. It reveals what the past could not destroy.