A Therapeutic Environment by Ann Bracken
I bring a small basket of flowers for my friend in the psych unit, the nurse buzzes me in. She silently yanks the plastic card-holder, then chides me, It has a pointy end. My friend tells me later, “No one gets flowers here.”
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...
Dear Doctor by Carley T.
Dear Doctor,
No breath left in my body
I'm writing, trying to think
Something which doesn't speak
Of the craziness I see inside
Tap tap tap I can hear...
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,
A Love Poem for the Girls with ‘Borderline’ by Rebecca Donaldson
I want to write a love poem for the girls who have been branded with, “Borderline.”
I want to write a love poem for the...
Let’s Talk by Howard Kaplan
I'm right there with you
so, let's talk, in a way.
We can start by talking to the air,
since you and I can’t be here or...
The degree of love: Six semesters and the Convocation Day by Navratra
What if couples celebrate pose day instead of rose day? Teaching each other how to stand in
front of the camera could be the best...
Letting Go by Ashleigh
Let go, Of all that shit, That is holding you back. Let go of fear, Let go of uncertainty, Let go of anger, Let the unpredictable be just that, Unpredictable. Let go of your need for control of things you cannot control, Hold on to your truths.
Dear Doctor (Unsent Letters) by Rose Y.
Dear Doctor,
Can we please rewind,
slip back in time?
To the first time that we spoke.
You say you don’t remember me
It’s no trouble,
Let’s refresh your memory
I’m...
So Who’s Mad, Then? by Richard Plowden
Mad Maddy,
I greet you again and say hello
On yet another fine day
In England in mid-December!
May our darling Greta
Be spared such summery sun
Up north in...
Quite Insane by Laurie Corzett
I am quite insane, I speak in rhyme that often doesn't, expecting to find reason. I live in a world of ritual and season.
“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”
Mabon Down by Valerie Moran-Clark
It was about this crisp
And with skinning wind
That skies narrowed
Darker with quickening clouds
Vampires did all surround
Shadows ever inkier grew
And leapt off the page
Separating me...
Jump Start by Jyl Anais
The professionals act like the theft of half my life was no big deal because they didn't mean to.
I Mistook Myself for a Scientific Label by Dr. Peter Gordon
This is neither fact, nor expert advice: I am an artist, a poet, and all that may be in-between.
This is neither fact, nor expert advice: Specialisms are making nonsense of sense.
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...
My Veterans Benefits Were Denied Because My Military Job “Did Not Exist” And The...
“Section 23a of your Form DD-214 lists your military occupational specialty as ‘EXP,’ the letter from the VA said. “That occupation does not exist....
Blossom by Ashleigh
To be beautiful.
What is that?
What does that mean?
Size two, toned, tan, and ready and waiting
Ready for what?
Waiting for who?
The prince charming promised in all...
How to Be a Mad Poet by Gregory Luce
How to Be a Mad Poet
First, be mad.
Then own it.
Breathe in the anxiety,
use it as fuel.
You might have to lie down
and breathe through the...
Avoid Bad Psychiatrist by Sam Kris
A psychiatrist and a person are having a conversation:
Day 1.
Person: “I’m so depressed, because my dog died.”
Psychiatrist: “It’s a disorder inside you. I’ll help...
I Needed a Guide by Mad Preschool Teacher
Still feels like yesterday
16 alone with this unrecognized gift
I can touch God
I can feel everything
Way too much pain though too much beauty
I needed a...
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...
Subhuman Schizo Sonnet by M.J. Hudson
O feeling like a nigger denied the vote,
the brain behind my radical commotion
being coercively treated by the state,
I, torn out to where some schizos...
metamorphosis by Lazlo Taboli
development is hardly accurate for what has happened to me
no, it's more of a transformation
and there is still something in me that needs to...
A Middle Finger to Oppression and DBT by Rebecca Donaldson
She (my psychologist) didn’t like me, and I don’t know why
I guess it’s not okay to wish to die
I was told by society I...
