16th January, 2025

RENEWAL

By Caroline Allen

I’m looking for

Somewhere pure,

Gentle. Somehow,

The present poisons

The past as an

Author’s fate colors

Their work, perfumes

With incense,

Unravels innocence.

We only know 

What to avoid 

By seeing it, parsing

Whispered warnings,

Wrung out meanings.

And yet, there is

A place within, a

Wild, precious

Intersection of

Dying and being

Born recurring,

Simultaneous,

A wide-eyed look,

A clear deep breath,

Cool, flittering,

Like a song

Sparrow in my palm,

Or at least how

I imagine holding

One would be.

ABOUT CAROLINE: Caroline is from Raleigh, NC. She is an avid reader and finds writing and collage creative outlets for expressing and experiencing faith. Her work is published in Ekstasis Magazine, Poetry for Mental Health, and Solid Food Press. Her day job is working in administration and conference management at the University of North Carolina.

16th January, 2025

RIVER

By Anonymous

I walk slowly towards the river

I hear its voice speak to me

Off onward calm

To be had in it waters.

The wind caresses, its body.

Churning my fears away as I enter the river.

It's cold, but my breath beats with the pulse of the water.

As I swim slowly, free now of the culling webs of anxiety.

The cavernous voice of depression is drowned into its depth.

I sigh and feel my energy return.

And I laugh.

Turning round and round with glee.

Spraying myself with the droplets of hope.

And sing with the voice of water.

I have found solace at last.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: "I have suffered from mental illness since a child. I have Bipolar with schizophrenic tendencies. Writing is cathartic."

Poetry by: Caroline Allen, John Tunaley, Ashe, Mike Whiting, Abby Alexander, Ella Grimes, Sara Ponferrada Reed, Wynn Vu, Harriet Coppard, Mike Gosalia, Rabindra Anselm Mariathasan, Pam Ski, Joan Kantor, Jamie Gannon, Susannah Chatfield, Emma Follett, Nigel Pinhorn, Boakesey, Milena Dimitrova, Nivedita Karthik, Annette Towler, Lana, Tara Reyes, Donna McCabe, Tony Cooney, Peter W. Morris, Mark Andrew Heathcote, Paul Parker, Angus Shoor Caan, Duane Anderson, Shahida, Joan McNerney, David T. Culkin, PhD., John F. Zurn, hristine Botros, Francis H. Powell. Simon Drake, Roo Newsome, Sherri Levine, Kathleen Chamberlin, Tandra Mishra, Caroline Berry, Angela Masciale, Chris Stokes, Reno Mcgreggor Connelly, Vatsala Radhakeesoon, Martin Embree, Dan Healy, Tadgh Quill-Manley, Reuben Scott, Paulette Hampton, Dr Sabrina Rubin, Bella Hope Smith,

 Lindsay Walter, Dale "Coyote" Johnson, Alexander A. Henning, Emma Welch, Sophie Squires, Chris McClelland, Sasha Irwin, Faiqa Ali Chughtai, Hari Berrow, Victoria Fitzgerald, Andrea Mitchell, , .Mohammed Ali, Chad Boucher, Zack Benz, Jordan Claeys, Nicole Crossno, Valentina Fulginiti, Ethan Boyd, Heidi Hildeman, Oscar Lozano, Addie Suter, Dionne Risley, David M White, PhD, Melissa W. Sorgi, Kyra Merryman, Riley M. Frank, Hilary Canto, Amelia May Hart, Reese, Anneli Knight, Keila Cruz, Bhagvati Patel, Amber Roeder, Cynthia Foss, April Bulmer, Chelsea Garcia, Trish Lundy, Divya Paliwal, Jeanette Stephenson, Luke Preston, Autumn Johnson, Amy Harris, Braxsen Sindelar, Kristen Moody, Sindy Stern, Sam Hendrian, Deby Cedars, Kiran Harrar, William Gray , Tim Boardman, Jason Kirk Bartley, Ruben Smith, Crystal Hall, Diane Kennedy, Phil Griffiths, Nadine Dunseith,

Cynthia Foss, Titan Sanchez, Alex Turner, Brielle Hoban, Aviva Lilith, Spruce Craft, Frea Wooten, Rosalynn Gildart, April Bartaszewicz, Prudence Sage Massaria, Howa Ramadan, Brodeigh Pearce, Annie Walsh, Charity Louise, Sasha Pavlovic, Haley Headrick, Trisha Lawty, Noor Yousif, Hannah Louise MacFarlane, Anthony Lanza, Basil Kaye, Malachy Mackel, G.S. Yarbro, Sanda Ristić Stojanović, Bobby Z, Binod Dawadi, Fredua A .Boateng, C.W. Blackburn, James Aitchison, Eshaal Asim, Anthony Lanza, Natalie Hussey, Kiran Harrar, Gary Shulman, Abraham Aruguete, Johnathan Eldridge, Faith Graham, Amanda Sharon Hancock, Garima Sachdev Kapoor, Rita McDermott, Shahida Seedat, Jose Manoj Mathews T, Farblos Artem, Jennifer L. Alukonis, Thomas Oddie, Tricia Lloyd Waller, Lisa Anderson, Himanshu Ahuja, K. Weber and Mary Bone.

PLUS: POSSIBLE BOOK PROJECTS FOR 2025

• MEN'S MENTAL HEALTH - Interviews, personal stories, short prose, and poetry focusing on men's mental health.
• WOMEN'S MENTAL HEALTH - Interviews, personal stories, short prose, and poetry focusing on women's mental health.
• MENTAL HEALTH WITHIN THE LGBTQIA+ COMMUNITY - Interviews, personal stories, short prose, and poetry focusing on mental health within the LGBTQIA+
  

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NOTE ON CONTRIBUTIONS: We publish mental health poetry from around the world, and for a number contributors to this website, English is not their first language. Unlike some other platforms, we don't heavily edit a poet's own work (if we did, it would then not be their own work!), so please focus on a poet's messages and meanings, and not necessarily on any grammatical mistakes or translated imperfections that may arise within their contribution.