paisleypanther Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Hello everyone! I’ve been writing poetry ever since I can remember, and I wanted to share how poetry is a very helpful coping mechanism for those who are suffering from loss (whether it be friends, family, exes, etc.). I’ve been in cognitive and dialectical behavior therapy for about eight years now, and something frequently discussed is a topic called mindfulness. It’s essentially where you allow yourself to experience your thoughts and emotions without acting on them. You focus on observing your feelings with a nonjudgemental stance. When struggling with loss, we tend to ruminate. We might regret our actions. We might try to figure out what went wrong. We might even blame ourselves. The more we focus on these things, the more elevated our emotions become. This can lead to what some call “downward spirals.” Spiraling, though common when healing from loss, causes a lot of unnecessary emotional pain. A useful mindfulness technique that helps me a lot when I start spiraling is writing down exactly what I’m feeling. Writing (especially on paper) is super helpful because it allows you to physically interact with your thoughts. They aren’t just swirling around in your head anymore. They’re on a piece of paper for you to see and revisit. After a good writing session, you’ll probably find yourself feeling a lot better. I know I do. Poetry is helpful for coping because not only do you get to write down exactly what you’re feeling, but you also get to be creative with it. Mental health professionals encourage people who are struggling to get creative because as humans, we feel powerful when we are making something. We feel a sense of control (something that we might not have felt for a long time). In your head, your thoughts may be painful, confusing, or even scary. When composing poetry, you’re able to also compose your thoughts and feelings in a tangible way that is wonderfully personal to your experience. You’re attending to your emotions while also creating something for yourself. So if you’ve been struggling lately, try writing some poems. I really hope it helps you during these hard times. Poetry is a great way to care for and love yourself. Sharing poetry with others can also be super helpful for others who are struggling. Shane Koyczan, one of my favorite contemporary poets, uses his poems to resonate with and encourage others. I definitely recommend that you check out his work! That being said, I made this thread for those who either want to share their own poetry or want to discuss how poetry has helped them cope during hard times. Because poetry is extremely personal in nature, please don’t make any mean comments or give unwanted criticism. Here’s a poem written by yours truly to break the ice. I wrote this when I was suspicious that my ex was cheating on me. I’m at a place Between complacency and chaos. Where feeling abandoned is just another feeling. Like your teeth on my ear, Or your palm on her breast. My fingerprints are on your tongue: The one you put between her legs. The Circle of Treachery is inside my gut. Blood rushes to my head. All I see is red. Everything is red. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Sarah_Smiles Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Very nice, paisleypanther. I wrote a lot of poetry during hard or upsetting, tragic times in my life. A lot of it is very dark, reflecting my pain I guess. If I find one not so sensitive - and I feel comfortable posting I definitely will post it for you. But, I look forward to reading more of your own work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Tigglesworth Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) Could be poetry, but I took (almost, 95%) of all of my favorite artists’ songs and took a lyric from each song and mashed then all together into my own song/poem. The result? I spent hours, days on it. It is still not perfect. I shuffled lines around I erased some and replaced them with others, some couldn’t find a spot for the longest time. I changed the narrative over and over. Unfortunately, I believe, my main motivation was to try and impress my ex. It was my drive for it to show her my artistic side, and maybe reconnect with her on a deeper down level that my own words could not describe. I made the, I think, mistake of showing her. I have not touched the piece since. I believe I’m going to try my hand at drawing my narrative of my emotions. Perhaps using the 5 stages of grief as the main storyboard. Of course, as I am not there, acceptance would just be a drawing of me on the “doorstep” of aceptance. What I would like it to, hopefully one day, look like. I’ve gone through many of the others already (although, I have not felt anger yet. It takes a lot to make me angry, but perhaps I went through this phase with different emotions). Edit - spent some time thinking about it and reading a bit more into the 5 stages. I did have anger; to myself. “Why didn’t you do y?” “I was an idiot to do z” “I will never forgive myself.” I think I’ve moved mostly past this though. It comes up every now and then lately..maybe once every two days instead of twice a minute. Thanks for the post. It just helps confirm that my idea to utilize a creative outlet would be great for myself. My emotions are admittlingly way too poweful for myself to handle, and when I was making my lyric-poem, despite the ends I wanted it to achieve, helped me gain a sense of control, a drive, and a way to try and truly understand the beast I have within. Edited January 12, 2019 by Tigglesworth 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Sarah_Smiles Posted January 21, 2019 Share Posted January 21, 2019 Here is one of mine, paisleypanther. Building castles in my mind, collecting clouds lost in time. Dancing on the stars of June, tripping over lunar moons. I blink and see into your eyes, discerning all your little lies. Happily, we all will go, along a path of the thorny rose. Bloody will our limbs be torn, unhappy are our hearts we mourn. Sleep it beacons me each night, nightmares hasten its glorious flight. Pull me this way, no, not that way with all my might. Lay me on the pillow soft, brush my hair until mind does settle. Wake me not, for I am stone and you my petal. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
MeadowFlower Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 "A useful mindfulness technique that helps me a lot when I start spiraling is writing down exactly what I’m feeling. Writing (especially on paper) is super helpful because it allows you to physically interact with your thoughts. They aren’t just swirling around in your head anymore. They’re on a piece of paper for you to see and revisit. After a good writing session, you’ll probably find yourself feeling a lot better. I know I do." It is good to write down how you feel and the things that are bothering you. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 It turned out that having kept a journal for years actually helped me out of major depression. I hadn't read it and then trying to find some fact made me dig them out when I had depression and PTSD and then I read all of them in about three days and found myself again. So I encourage anyone to keep a journal they can refer back to. You can see patterns of behavior you'd never think of on yourself and others as well. And in my case, it kind of saved my life. I had lost myself. I read about who I was and how I got to where I was and came back. Part of my journaling was also poetry. I think one of the best things about art and music and poetry is that you can make something good out of even something bad and at least that way, it's not all for naught. I wrote a lot after I "came back." But I started with writing about others, not introspection. Then I began writing about myself a few months later and this is just one of many: RESURRECTION Salon divining street wraith Tiny pins of light glance off her moving jacket whirling in slow motion, mirrored light gleaming in limo’d blackness Moment in time Her life screams through her face in brief stabs of victory she’s ambushed mercilessly, taking it down in its prime, the hard way. Too hungry for opportunistic feeding She likes ‘em warm and bleeding Splice of life Major edit Throws it away like outgrown clothes The lost pages a short loop playing slowly Always keep the pretty ones Dim illumination Cabin in the woods, the angel dog Half-selves lurking unformed waiting, hoping, holding their ears She goes alone Alone, she returns eyes ablaze hurricane heart Black glint of her pupils pin you at the door Too late. She’s not kidding anymore 2 Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted January 22, 2019 Share Posted January 22, 2019 The difference in my poetry from before the depression/PTSD and after is after, I pretty much wrote in a trance. It was coming straight from my soul. I'd put it down and come back later to edit it when I no longer had it in my head. Sometimes I didn't even remember I'd written it until way later. When not writing about myself entirely, I have written a lot inspired by certain music artists that I was influenced by. Here is the most recent one of those, and it still needs a lot of work. THERE WAS A TIME There was a time one walked alone inches above the ground with comets roaring overhead, screaming over trees Look up, you can see them. Look down, see from in them. Colors bred in colonies painting your picture feeding you bringing you other gods unprepared for what comes from them unready and deaf But nothing stopped it What makes you lay it down? strand of hair in a ghost’s hand See it flicker as you turn your head Cold colors otherworldly perfect symmetry photoperception Bladerunner beam ice blue frozen kaliedoscope bullet riddled stop sign your hidden laugh There was a time Play me Play me Play me away Leave me here on the ridge three frets from the bridge Hurl me into space on a chord that never fades Native American wail dweller Lurk behind a gold highway of steel and slide behind a moan Never made it easy But there was a time the sky opened and wrote your ticket Walked with stars Slept with ghosts apparitions real as life jumping on your grave You pulled the guitar out of the stone and rocked this boneyard. There was a time 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Sarah_Smiles Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 Your poems are wonderful, preraph. This part out of your first really clicked with me personally: " Dim illumination Cabin in the woods, the angel dog Half-selves lurking unformed waiting, hoping, holding their ears She goes alone Alone, she returns eyes ablaze hurricane heart Black glint of her pupils pin you at the door Too late. She’s not kidding anymore" 2 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 i agree op ....poetry....is a gift....mine is often a bit simple i feel if i can simplify my poetry into reality maybe my reality will simplify into poetry.... the paisley leaves begin to fall, was summer ever here at all, a plover mother's lonely call, she never had a nest not at all.....deb 2 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 i thought i heard you dying on the phone, your laugh echoed like a no ones home, then i realized no matter how far i roam, over desert or sea waves of white tipped foam, it was always my destiny to be alone, because i never really owned a phone.....deb Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 (edited) an inner cry a soundless echo,echo grave thoughts,groundless among strange bed fellows, like is sunlight on a broken column, still yellow,yellow whispers from T.S Eliot, from men of hollow, this is the way the world ends to follow, And the descent Falls the Shadow For Thine is the Kingdom For Thine is Life is For Thine is the This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends This is the way the world ends Not with a bang but a whimper. quote from T.S Eliot's Hollow men one of my favorite poems for pure imagery..awesome poem .... Edited January 26, 2019 by todreaminblue 1 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted January 26, 2019 Share Posted January 26, 2019 THERE WAS A TIME There was a time one walked alone inches above the ground with comets roaring overhead, screaming over trees Look up, you can see them. Look down, see from in them. Colors bred in colonies painting your picture feeding you bringing you other gods unprepared for what comes from them unready and deaf But nothing stopped it What makes you lay it down? strand of hair in a ghost’s hand See it flicker as you turn your head Cold colors otherworldly perfect symmetry photoperception Bladerunner beam ice blue frozen kaliedoscope bullet riddled stop sign your hidden laugh There was a time Play me Play me Play me away Leave me here on the ridge three frets from the bridge Hurl me into space on a chord that never fades Native American wail dweller Lurk behind a gold highway of steel and slide behind a moan Never made it easy But there was a time the sky opened and wrote your ticket Walked with stars Slept with ghosts apparitions real as life jumping on your grave You pulled the guitar out of the stone and rocked this boneyard. There was a time my favorite images are walked with stars and slept with ghosts...inspiring beautiful lines pre raph...two word killer line...."hurricane heart"...lots of thoughtful food in your poetry pre raph....deb 1 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 god in his infinite wisdom turned us all blue, just about when we found an ocean of you, kept us invisible with blue waves to swim through, us as blue as the sky where the wildest birds flew.... we grew tired and looked for some shade, joined with the sunlight and willows and green tree leaves were made, that gave our blue blood the air it did need, to turn red for predation to feed, and now when sunlight has gone, the night comes for our dreams carry on, the dream of god in his infinite wisdom,who turned us all blue, we can dream of the oceans,and the lonely ocean of you....deb 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Fekenaws Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I wrote this one when I was addicted to drugs and in a bad place a few years ago "I feel like I'm half retarded, regarded as Patrick starfish, I'll probably die a starving artist barred from the market like Marxists, My face on milk cartons, apartment evicted, amidst the garbage and dishes I'll kick the bucket while I'm arched in the kitchen partially in the sink with prescription pills in my fist and a horribly written note I'd be sorry I didn't finish" 2 Link to post Share on other sites
abotha5 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 93 Days I never saw you when you left Never got a hug or a kiss After four years of magic You were just gone You are no longer a human in the flesh Just words on a screen Your beauty never to be seen My world is just like a dream It’s like chasing a ghost. Staring at a screen Hoping and hoping and hoping Just for a few words Just to know you still exist Even just as words on a screen You say you can’t see me in the flesh Cause you will weaken and relent. It’s been ninety three days since you walked We haven’t touched we haven’t talked. The hole in me just won’t heal. How can I stop what I feel? 2 Link to post Share on other sites
abotha5 Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 The night This night, an ending song uncrowned. It cries deep below the surface. But the tears make no sound. Dreams melt by flickering candlelight. My beautiful darkness. Come with me; let me show you where to play. A new fantasy, a new life a new place to lie. Memories like cancer eat my soul. All that my eyes can see are reflected in soft light on window sills O how bitter this pill Love is not meant to be cruel A new day, new hope, a prayer Clouded in fog, this pain to share Away from the dark, moving into the light Dark shadows won’t give up without a fight 3 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 (edited) in the softness of shadows , in the absence of light, character develops then learns how to fight. in the presence of storms, with still waters missing, sailors learn to sail, to return to lips they miss kissing. in darkness and struggle, where hardships breathe life, we humans have to keep going, through all sorts of strife. whatever we go through, how far we fall, our character develops even, when we feel small our character is there, outstretched,reaching for light all we have to do , is never give up the fight.......deb character like a photograph, develops in darkness by Yousef Karsh Edited January 29, 2019 by todreaminblue 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Author paisleypanther Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 I'm so happy there are people who are contributing to this thread! Poetry is so great and it's nice to know there are others who want to share it with this community Here's another poem I wrote recently. Like the last, it's about my ex and how alcoholism hurt him and our past relationship. You can’t hold me While carrying the past Used condoms on the floorboards Slime green glow of a downtown club Love feels good When it’s not made to last And you lean in close then off you go Looking to find yourself at the bottom of a bottle Always drunk when you’re inside her Your car breaks down as much as you do Tempting fate with a model so old I know exactly where you’ll find yourself Dead in that car you never sold 3 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) gliding monsters beneath a sea, a raging sky hides but exists to be, the captives will one day be free, their shackles loosed for all to see. people living large in laps of luxury, the entitled with no belief in charity, do mock the rags and bones of poverty the earth groans under fire and flood, the cities in liquor drown innocent blood, countries starve and rape the soil, trees fall as plastic oceans boil, the fishes float through airless water, tears flow from unclaimed daughters.... yet amidst the strife peril and war, theres a light through an open door, where a tree stands tall to fall no more, around the tree, soft earth of broken ground, where whispering leaves intone a hopeful sound. this is not the end....this is not the end...this is not the end i will not fall break or bend birds do fly,babies will cry, waves still sigh and hush, children to come and rush, flowers will always grow dont you know......dont you know....... deb Edited February 7, 2019 by todreaminblue Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I'm usually effusive, but this is my favorite of my couple of short poems: Even as he stood in the door of the murky bar outlined against the clear blue day of her youth he seemed like a phantom There was something she knew in the swivel of his eyes the quick curled smirk of his lopsided smile the deceptiveness of his brow as even then he lied to please her 3 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 (edited) I'm usually effusive, but this is my favorite of my couple of short poems: Even as he stood in the door of the murky bar outlined against the clear blue day of her youth he seemed like a phantom There was something she knew in the swivel of his eyes the quick curled smirk of his lopsided smile the deceptiveness of his brow as even then he lied to please her this is really thought provoking pre raph...you know that i have found a lot of poetry that contains the color blue theres this poetess who was ocd about the color blue and wrote a book about it ...i will try and find her and the book again and post it here for you i think its in my amazon......i love the poem i have quoted from you who wrote it was it you? edit i read your post again it is yours...i love it heres the book i mentioned pre raph... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6798263-bluets Edited February 7, 2019 by todreaminblue Link to post Share on other sites
preraph Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 That's a cool idea for a collection, isn't it? I didn't download as it wanted to make me let it put an ad extension, but may look for it next time I'm at the big used bookstore. Yes, I'm only posting ones I wrote. Glad you like it! I like it because it captures a memory or two. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 i missed your smile one day, and realised you were never here to stay, seems like forever since you went away, even the skies are still blue and even i still pray, born by the loss and smiles that i kiss, heart break comes and kindness i miss. days go by and into the ache of a salty night, i have forgotten your face and lost my sight, all in the world moves to turn the days of yore, everyone blind but for hope and faith once more......deb Link to post Share on other sites
todreaminblue Posted February 15, 2019 Share Posted February 15, 2019 (edited) I kept my distance , i held my pride, until i saw those denzel eyes. you had that calm and loving stare, and all the qualities that i cared, i fell in love as did you, and years followed that we went through. but over years of storms and calm, somehow the world came in and did us harm, i still loved those denzel eyes, but they were often filled with deceit and lies. would i have kept my distance and held my pride, had i known what would fill those denzel eyes, would i have stayed through all those lies what was what is or what could have been, is beyond my sight and cannot be seen, what i do know for sure, is what is never to have a cure, because now three daughters i have grown, have those denzel eyes i have always known, that calm and ever loving stare, and all those qualities that i care, so thank you mr denzel eyes, though through the years i often cried i dont regret the deceit or lies i cant live with regret my daughters have denzel eyes, ........deb Edited February 15, 2019 by todreaminblue 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sarah_Smiles Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Restless and weary, sleep won't come I crawl from my supposed slumber Down my top floor stairs Into a foggy mist A strange dream like state Yet I remain awake While visions carefully partake In playing games with my senses I pray for only darkness So I can hide inside it Not a backlit fogginess Where I constantly feel his wet kiss. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts