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Memory Tainted
Tense and struggling To keep the monstrosity In check Pushing past adversity And unseen barriers Makes a heart strong Halting memories Keep me bound To a fate of my Worst fears When the juggernaut Sleeps, I will find True peace Funeral of the Inside My heart died inside my chest last night I said my goodbyes while I carved its initials in a tree. I buried the remnants in a hole deeper than my regret. I poured in the gasoline of despair and set it alight. I took the ashes and held them to the wind. I let them escape from my fingers just like my hopes and dreams have fled before me ( Adam Levon Brown is an internationally published author, poet, amateur photographer. He is Founder, Owner, and editor in chief of Madness Muse Press. He has had poetry published hundreds of times in several languages, along with 2 full collections and 3 chapbooks. He also participates as an assistant editor at Caravel Literary Arts Journal. )
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Active Options
A gentle exercise class Harm Has come to each Body Or body and brain Seated in this vast community hall. Much of Spring outside Seems implausible – Bright yellow daffodils Over-bright like Society’s thoughtless advice – yet The two fitness instructors here Are very kind. No hint Of contempt is shown Towards knees that can’t lift Or the very small Movement a post-stroke arm Can make. A man smiles Bouncing a green ball Up and down, Faster than all the rest of us - For a moment he’s in a ballroom of the self, His Parkinson’s, a pillar left behind. Harm, call him Life Or sneaky, smiling Death Is always ready To walk down the road beside you: The height of summer might even be The time for this relationship Or Spring with those slopes Of belligerent daffodil faces. Against the ruin Of motion and of self, There are only two things that matter - Personal tenacity and kindness. Here everyone speaks To each other. Respect dances With each man or woman Even if they can only move Seated Extending the left leg And then the right, Lifting toes up, Then lifting heels. The night of the exercise class Sleep comes – To the changed self. ( Maureen Sangster is a Scottish writer and artist. Some of her text and image work is currently displayed at Inverkeithing Railway Station, Fife as part of a Rail Art and Writing poster exhibition.) Deliverance
Sitting at the table Sunday evening after the children had fallen asleep you took my despair in you hands, held me differently, new touch after twenty years. You were angry. Afraid to think I might give up. There were no services, no physician, you resorted to Holy Communion delivered by a desperate husband with a poppadom and apple juice, then anointed me with cooking oil. Your faith set me free. ( Paula Matthews is a poet and mental health champion currently writing therapeutically.) Treating depression
After weeks of living on an island of gloom Under a canopy of doubt With a maze of hopelessness spread Over a listless brain, After weeks of being lost in the alleys of Worthlessness Long stabbing nights, Your arrival, like a spring, laden with The sprinkles of Serotonin and hope Jumpstarted my flat brain. Despite sweating like a mule A mercurial stomach You are my new aquamarine sky New tranquillity of night New alertness during a crossword. Despite initial doubts And umpteen imperfections of therapy You have pulled me back From the railings of bridges From a gnawing fox of guilt. (Publication of this poem was prompted by celebrity suicides of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade this week. This is a poetic description of views of my patients I have seen over the years. It is a small step to raise awareness about this treatable illness). ( Javed Latoo is a medical doctor and a poet based in the UK. In his spare time, Dr Latoo writes poetry. His poems have been published in literary magazines and journals (both print and online) as well as in an anthology. His maiden collection "Gushing Fountain: A Collection of Poems" was published in 2015. Dr Latoo likes to use poetry to explore mental health and philosophy. He edits a project called "The Beautiful Space- A Journal of Mind, Art and Poetry.") EMILY AS WHY THE ECHO STOPS
The importance of a nowhere place, of an existence where existence can be questioned is undeniably important. The stasis of an everlasting question could be what’s propping up this whole damn world. This is why I never ask Emily why she stayed with me after & after & after & after. EMILY AS WE MOVE THE WORLD FORWARD IN OUR TEETH There are new days & fields that grow only rhubarb that we gnaw on like the bones of old lovers that we imagine might want us to remember them, but do not care if the crop is enough of a metaphor. (Darren C Demaree- My poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including Diode, Meridian, New Letters, Diagram, and the Colorado Review. I am the author of eight poetry collections, most recently ''Two Towns Over' (March 2018), which was selected as the winner of the Louise Bogan Award by Trio House Press. I am the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry.) |
The Beautiful Space-
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