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...
Weâre Not Settling by Jeffrey Powell
when theyâre arresting, stifling, tranquilizing
not standing for our backfire
whatâs really wrong - can they answer that
why canât they promise not to mire
At first we...
Quiet Storms by Tina Antonis
This year, I learned to name the hurricaneâ
Borderline, they call it.
A diagnosis sharp as a scalpel
cutting through the fog of whatâs wrong with me?
For...
An Atheist’s Prayer by Morgan Stewart
Psychiatry is an atheistâs prayer, absolving the faithful of human desire
It is miracle cures, sinners who have lost their way, and a holy book...
Subhuman Schizo Sonnet by Michael Hudson
To V. C. of Melbourne Magistratesâ Court
O I must forget every sickening slight
   they sent, secretively, knowing I'd twig,
and their joy, as...
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 bonesâ
A...
What if We All Became Preachers? by Laurenne Kredentser
What if we all became preachers?
Us madfolk
Whoâve been locked up, lobotomized, and drugged into a living death
Whoâve been tied to trees and left to...
The World We Live In by Alex Klein
Disruptive
Changing the flow
Yell too loud
Theyâll alert the popo
Corrective action
For voicing your needs
No body listens
When youâre a mental disease
Get out please stop that
We donât 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 itâs a factor in your life. And that you actually do, as the word âschizophreniaâ indicates, have a mind that you share with some sort of outside presence.
An Ode Against âRecoveryâ by Rebecca Donaldson
An Ode Against âRecoveryâ: Flourishing After Childhood Trauma by Rebecca Donaldson
I remember when a therapist of mine once told me I could ârecover.â
The...
Fuck You by T.O. Walker
I won't be The right type Of victim. I won't be the Quiet type Of victim.
Credo by Sarah Walker
A statement about grief, art, existence and âmadnessâ
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 canât stand...
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...
Vacant House by Tara Rae Behr
I never knew what it was likeâ-to inhabit my body.
I was always
inhabiting
others bodies in my body
since the cave opened and my heart beheld the...
Statistics for the Social Sciences by Miriam Barr
I had this idea I could join the system
and change it from the inside
but you canât join the system
and not join the system
The Price You Pay by Anonymous
If you have never dropped out of school for mental health reasons,
you probably wonât cry tears of joy on the car ride over to...
The Parasite Within by Rhiannon Chianese
I claw and climb into your head,
Controlling your thoughts until I am fed.
With a drink or a drug, I will be seized.
With a drink...
The Hopkins Doctor Diagnoses Me by Ann Bracken
The Hopkins psychiatrist glances up at me,
then looks at my chart.
âI remember the first timeâand the secondâwhen the depression lifted
I felt like a party girl.â
How long did that last?
âA couple of daysâŠthree, maybe.â
Thatâs a couple of days too long.
You have all the signs of bipolar II.
Look Deeper by Craig Wagner
At times my vision is shallow and short-sighted as I see my loved-one cope with the challenges we label mental illness.
At times through shallow eyes I see a future stunted, my loved-one's possibilities not fully realized.Â
...But then I look deeper.
...There I see unnecessary expectations created by me, held by me, and fully releasable by
...........me.   Â
Shame by Destiny Woodward
There is a vastness of sorrow and emptiness within me that I canât describe. The sting of shame, the flames of regret consume me....
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...
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...
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...
It is January 20th by Jessica Lowell Mason
The doctor is calling.
She says to you,
without saying,
tell me what I want
to hear,
verify the hastiness
of all my generalizations,
the quick imprecise
diagnoses
and the bias-based
confirmations,
