Loss X Mental Illness is a collection of poems written by Aariona Harris during one of the most emotionally and mentally challenging times of her life. Harris offers solidarity to other readers who may go through something similar and ensure they know they are not alone. While doing so Harris was able to address her […]
Announcement! Book Launch for “Loss X Mental Illness” by Aariona Harris
some days were sad gray uneventful
most days were brutal confusing painful
rarely did we need or want to smile
the looks the words the anger the hate the ridicule the shame the blame the abandonment
marching on in my head time middle fingered me on my knees crawling on the tarmac of the road to hell paved with no intention
Mutter turned her head like a queen in agreement
i could not comprehend
where do i make sense
papai misguided man
leading dragging his daughter
slaughter wood chipper of life
but i’m grown now
your dice followed you to where you went
my words hushed heaven will never live here anymore Gehenna had bought the country
healing compassion empathy sympathy turning of the cheeks fasting sacrificing keeping score patronizing scarification complete spirit annihilation
i was never meant to be your Issac
tonight i have given up trees comfort me for now the light waves capture the tones of my tears tonight the pain of my mind is entertained by the old dried chewing gum patties on the ground i imagine a plucky child tossing the wad to the ground before his teacher catches him or perhaps […]
wanton bullets – Marisela Brazfield
there
in
life
is
a
force
to
cheat
death
for
years
once
We just blew inby way of catastrophe.Be kind, althoughyou’ve dealt with your shareof troublemakers. Your shareof trouble.Don’t treat uslike marine recruits.Heck, let us walk aroundin our pajamas without punishing us,relegating us to our rooms for notbeing compliant with rules of your private making.Be kind, although you might not beto avoid burnout. Although you mightbe burned […]
To the orderly behind the screen at the psych ward – Nancy Dunlop
At the end I’ll be dust. Dust and flakes of skin and bonewrapped in long hair,teeth chatteringwith no voice.No sense of tasteor smell.No reason.At the endI’ll be impenetrable,anonymous,figmentsof myselfwith no self left,no Id, no Ego.All will dieat my end. Photo by Evie S. on Unsplash Lynn White lives in north Wales. Her work is influenced […]
My Ego Dies At The End – Lynn White
I am nowhere and love still finds me. On feather toes and gentle wind, it drops in. It settles in the hollow, drowning out the echoes. Some of the echoes say your name. Some float away. I wait outside the seawall, untangled and unshackled. I hold no phantoms hostage, swim away, swim away. […]
Love Still Finds Me – Kristin Kory
Pretend otherwiseRooms steaming with women in towelsHair dripping, feet slick, thrum of lifeLet loose, voices shrill in gossipAre they talking about you? Are they pullingTheir vicious needles throughYour thin, thin skin, where no oneHas been, those secret corners within Time turns her unwashed skirts outThe sauna is set too high to see Faces melt behind […]
We the unhinged – Candice Louisa Daquin
flag display in the El Pavo Real DTLA jewelry gallery on Broadway these beauties have hung there since my kidhood seeing them there so dignified brought back so many wonderful and tragic memories Bruce Lee movies arcades colorful candied almonds parents embroiled in DV fear panic and coloring books fat crayons my pigtails and witnessing fatal drunk fights the stars in the sky an upward continuum of the light bulbs on the marquees and the ever hypnotic Million Dollar Theater and the frightening giant Victor’s Clothing blue groom and so forth and so on Los Angeles here I am your daughter….
words less spoken 