Taken from Vol 2 - 'MENTAL HEALTH: A collection of short prose, interviews, personal stories and poetry from around the world on the themes of mental health.' CLICK HERE for further details and to order a copy.

KINTSUGI II

By Alison Lake

If my heart

is a clay vessel

smashed,

first by my 

grandfather’s hands,

and then 

by even more,

I have found a way,

through quiet patience

and an upturned face,

to piece it together

with my daughter’s laughter

and the silver

of the moon’s

exhaled breath.



MY PLEA

By Julie Hargreaves

Always just remember, that you are not alone.

Never ever be afraid to speak out, curse or moan.

Try not to let things build up, don't keep thoughts to yourself.

Because this can have devastating effects, on you Mental Health.

Your life may not always, be filled with sunshine, smiles and laughter.

But if you take it all away, what have you left behind after.

You have left devastation, to the people who were there to care.

You have left them totally heartbroken, because you're no longer there.

You have left them with questions, with no answers they can find.

You have left them unable, to settle their traumatised mind.

You have left behind heartache, that never will repair. 

You have left your loved ones thinking, didn't they realise I'd be there.

A decision that was made, but that can never be undone.

A decision that should've never been, chosen as the final one.

In December twenty twenty-one, we were left in this terrible way.

When Our Jim, my younger brother, decided he could not stay.

At just forty-two years old, we never thought Jim's life would end.

But on that day in December, he left broken hearts that will never mend.

ABOUT THE POEM

"My family and I lost Our Precious Jim without warning when he took his own life. This poem is exactly want the title says, My Plea. I want to try and reach out to anybody who is at their lowest point and try and make them realise ... this is not the answer and this is not the way."

ABOUT JULIE

Julie is a 48 year-old mum of three from Bury, Lancashire, UK, who is struggling coming to terms with the loss of her brother Jim. She wants to talk about him, and look at photo's of him, but it's to upsetting for her. Writing poetry as helped Julie express her emotions and keep Jim close.

ADVICE TO MY UNBORN SELF

By j. lewis

i'm telling you things you won't understand

but you need to know what's coming because

it's going to get ugly at times and it might help

if you have some warning

your mother will not know what to do with you

the second of her coming brood. she will be nineteen

when you are born. don't judge her so harshly. 

when you are five, you will break your arm

falling off the top log of a corral.

you will be driven an hour to see "the doctor"

where nothing will faze you until you see

"the nurse" with a needle as long as your arm

you will start crying because you think

the needle is for you, which will give your father

fuel for endless hours of laughing and teasing.

you will never understand why it was so funny to him.

forgive him anyway, for your own sake.

when you are twelve, you will be seduced by an aunt

more than twice your age and it will ruin you

because you will not understand that even though 

you thought you wanted it, you are not guilty and dirty

she knew much more than you imagined. she will grow old

and die without ever saying "i'm sorry." don't wait for it.

you will equate love and sex for the rest of your life

and be constantly lonely because you get it all wrong

even after you're married. you will waste a lot of time

being miserable. if i could tell you anything at all

that might help, i would tell you to learn to forgive—

first yourself for not being perfect, then everyone else

for also not being perfect. it's not a perfect world.

don't ask it to be. that's nonsense.

you will not understand until you are old how depressed

you were. it wasn't even a diagnosis when you were six.

barely so when you were thirty, and there wasn't much help.

along the way, there will be people who will love you

for no reason that they ever can or need to explain.

try not to push them away. they will be your life line—

hold on to them. let their love be enough.

you will have children who will struggle more than you did.

mental illness will rob them of their happiness, and their

pain will rob you of yours because you can't fix them.

you will learn more compassion than you ever thought possible

because you will find the strength to stay instead of running.

you will not think it's much, but they will. they will.

by the time you are seventy, you will have worked more jobs

than you can remember, and will have done most of them well.

along the way, you will touch people. some will tell you, 

others will not, but they will never forget. you will learn

to let go of a lot of anger over all the things that didn't 

go right. don't let anger be replaced with sadness or regret. 

those are not good company for an old man.

mostly, you should know that there will be incredible moments

where everything feels right. don't discount them. don't ruin them

by complaining that they are too short. record them for those times

when everything goes wrong, so you can relive them. they matter.

love yourself. forgive yourself. the voice in your head that never 

stops will tell you what a miserable failure you are. it's a lie. 

if you listen, it will destroy you. you will be more than enough

for more people than you can imagine. more than enough. 

i think that's all for now. maybe we can visit again

when you and i meet somewhere between birth and death.

we will each have stories to tell.

ABOUT J. LEWIS

j. lewis is an internationally published poet, musician, psych nurse practitioner, and the editor of Verse-Virtual, an online journal and community. When he is not otherwise occupied, he is often on a kayak, exploring and photographing the waterways near his home in California. He is the author of five poetry collections and several chapbooks.

W: www.jlewisweb.com

I'M FINE

By Spruce Craft

I’m fine!

I swear I’m fine.

I don’t feel like I'm falling apart

I don't feel like I’m a burden;

A failure,

Not me!

I don’t have a heart that can’t beat

I’m not stuck with the child who just wanted love

The kid 

The kid who gave everything and received nothing

But scars

The scars that stole the innocence he clung to so tightly

And buried his needs & happiness six feet back behind his eyes

All for others 

Of whom he loved dearly

The most selfless kid you’d ever meet

The time fleets by

Slower than the clock can tick 

But faster than he can think

All he truly wants is love

And all of it he gives 

Never returns

And the effort and worth

slowly leave alongside the people they were given to.

I’m not insane

I don’t fear my own mind

I don’t love so much

And never receive any back.

I'm not still that kid

Scared to let go

And wish you a fond farewell

I’m not waiting for something 

Anything 

To prove you truly care.

I don’t overthink

Over every single thing

To hope I can tell if you truly are okay

Though, I cannot heal you

As much as I wish I could feel this pain

Just so you don’t have to

I would thrust a sword 

through my own heart

This heart that I would truthfully give to you

And no other

So you may no longer hurt.

No, sir, I am fine.

That couldn’t be me.

Truly, I know how it feels

Because maybe it is me

Deep in the back of my brain

Where I choose to hide

All the things I feel inside

While I silently want to die.