What if We All Became Preachers? by Laurenne Kredentser
What if we all became preachers?
Us madfolk
Who’ve been locked up, lobotomized, and drugged into a living death
Who’ve been tied to trees and left to...
An Atheist’s Prayer by Morgan Stewart
Psychiatry is an atheist’s prayer, absolving the faithful of human desire
It is miracle cures, sinners who have lost their way, and a holy book...
Shame by Destiny Woodward
There is a vastness of sorrow and emptiness within me that I can’t describe. The sting of shame, the flames of regret consume me....
You Are A World by Tara Rae Behr
You are a world.
You are not a sign,
a category, a personality,
a label, a diagnosis, a spectacle,
a thing to be analyzed, or figured out.
Others who...
Head on a Stick by Jennifer Chapman
I feel a push and pull inside of me,
Deep in the pit of my soul.
Roots stretch to the ends of my stomach,
Tangled with bones—
A...
A Journey Through a Restaurant by Lea Harrington
Walking through this restaurant
to the restroom -
always in the back,
of course
A gauntlet
one must walk
to go
where one needs to go
People look at me,
stare,
laugh at me.
What...
We’re Not Settling by Jeffrey Powell
when they’re arresting, stifling, tranquilizing
not standing for our backfire
what’s really wrong - can they answer that
why can’t they promise not to mire
At first we...
Virginal Autonomy by Nidhi Agrawal
After Sylvia Plath ~
“I have given my name and my day-clothes up to the nurses
And my history to the anaesthetist and my body...
And You by Douglas Westberg
And You
a glosa
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into...
When the Lunatics Arise by Bonnie Schell
“It is the very error of the moon. She comes more near the earth than she was wont. And makes men mad.” - Shakespeare,...
TRUE STORY by Jasmine Marshall
i went to the gym the other day and got hit on by a man over twice my age he asked me about my...
The Light Prevailed by Diana Spore
The primary wall stood strong and tall, until she started to chisel her way through
She had been told that she would never recover --
From...
To Live and (Almost) Die in L.A.: A Survivor’s Tale
After 25 years of chronic emergency, 22 mental hospitalizations, a stint at a “community mental health center,” 13 years in a "board & care," repeated withdrawals from addictions to legal drugs, and a 12-year marriage, I plan to live every last breath out as a survivor, an advocate, and an artist.
Proofs by Dana Henry Martin
Because tree stumps have replaced office chairs.
Because a city of wind has replaced commercial
business parks. Because infinity has been revealed
as a tidy line of...
self-portrait as frankenstein’s monster by Jasmine Marshall
self-portrait as frankenstein’s monster
we are mortal beings.
you can’t destigmatize a condition constructed on a foundation of bigotry.
environmental stimulus incites evolutionary response: emotion, nature’s behavior-motivation...
The Day I Became Schizophrenic
Schizophrenia, to me, is nothing more than a word. All it really means is that you experience psychosis on a regular enough basis that it’s a factor in your life. And that you actually do, as the word “schizophrenia” indicates, have a mind that you share with some sort of outside presence.
Algorithm Poem #1 by Steven T. Licardi
There’s got to be an algorithm
to determine
the precise number of physicians
you need to visit
before you become little more
than a heap of diagnoses
imprisoned
in manilla envelopes
stacked
to...
Madness, Beauty, Love by Laurenne Kredentser
There’s a beauty in madness
That most will never understand
A love that opens up your heart
To those you never met, never knew, never saw before.
And...
On Becoming a Butterfly by Michael Robin
On Becoming a Butterfly
Little did I know,
the end was just the beginning
Like the caterpillar,
I shed my old skin as if I was supposed to...
From Maggie’s Love to IDHS Hell by Marci Webber
Love we shared with exquisite tenderness
With the Dr’s scripts has long since vanished.
They say it wasn’t my responsibility
Not guilty because of acute insanity.
Yet they...
Psychiatry Gave Me PTSD by Nicola Clare
Psychiatry gave me PTSD.
Psychiatry gave me PTSD
A silhouette now
Or a hologram
Wedged between sheets of sound
Proof, somehow
Shatter proof glass
Stuck
For an eternity; cast,
A mad ranting lunatic!
Labels...
“Seniors” Rant by Don Weitz
A rant dedicated to all “seniors” in geriatric wards and nursing homes
we’re sick we’re stuck we’re fucked
we’re labelled we’re libelled
“demented” “incompetent”
October 1st, 2020 by Hannah E
Today I am 27.
I spent many years of my life in a very dark place. I spent many years suffering without truly understanding why....
I Will Fight for You by Atara Schimmel
she
is the one
that i want
the one that
i love
she fights
for justice
like a wild cat
fighting for her cub
fangs and claws
because freedom is everything
(Not) Special by Erin Harer
Even in my darkest lost places
It felt worth it
To be special.
Even on the days I knew
That my choices had become expensive
Even then
It felt worth...
