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...
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...
Quiet Storms by Tina Antonis
This year, I learned to name the hurricane—
Borderline, they call it.
A diagnosis sharp as a scalpel
cutting through the fog of what’s wrong with me?
For...
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...
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...
Subhuman Schizo Sonnet by Michael Hudson
To V. C. of Melbourne Magistrates’ Court
O I must forget every sickening slight
   they sent, secretively, knowing I'd twig,
and their joy, as...
The World We Live In by Alex Klein
Disruptive
Changing the flow
Yell too loud
They’ll alert the popo
Corrective action
For voicing your needs
No body listens
When you’re a mental disease
Get out please stop that
We don’t know...
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.
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...
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...
Poem for Pearl by Mother of Pearl
Dear Pearl
My beautiful blessed girl.
Your pain is my pain.
You will never know how much,
I love and adore you,
Until you have a daughter of...
Khepri by Michael Hudson
O give me in a shrink the god who rolled Ra
across the heavenly sky each day from dawn,
making everything seem so fresh and young
beneath...
Satan’s Shadow by Adam Slosberg
It is a beautiful day. The Sun is out; not a cloud in the sky. Yet I am in the Depths of Darkness where...
Moonlight Mystery by Jason Aull
Lively do the shadows play
Within the darkened lonely way
Few dare tread along the deep
Where hatreds children play with sleep
Rage and laughter fill the day
As...
Paradoxical Reaction by J Ian
Open up your jaw, In such and such. A serpentine fashion. Blue pill awaits. Your trembling mouth.
Dearest Doctor by Brighid Aime
Dearest Doctor #2, don't dollop me in shame (or throw me a death sentence for that matter).
Don't tell me I need to be happy...
She Flies With a Broken Wing by Robin Edwards
She flies with a broken wing
looking for a branch to rest on
Somewhere safe to lay her head
waiting for the warmth of dawn,
She knows the branch that welcomes her
even in the dark
She’s nestled there many times
to rest her weary heart,
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,...
The Great Experiment by Barbara Summers
"Dear Mum,
Looks like the dizziness I was having and rainbow vision is something worse than "Silent Migraines", I may have to have an operation....
An Ode Against “Recovery” by Rebecca Donaldson
An Ode Against “Recovery”: Flourishing After Childhood Trauma by Rebecca Donaldson
I remember when a therapist of mine once told me I could “recover.”
The...
Are You Ok? by Alex K.
Are you taking your meds?
Are you right in the head?
Are you doing ok?
Am I behind on pills today?
You seem manic
More like you can’t stand...
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
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.
See Your Ancestors Smile by J.H.
As we lie together
Worlds apart
Seek shelter
With me.
Weave your
Stolen freedom
Into a new dream;
Between skipped
Heartbeats,
Show me
A world burning
Only with
Your fire.
My sweet sublimity,
Take hold of this
Outstretched hand...
