‘Not Quite Dead’, by Angelina Bong
I woke up a wilted roseMy petals were crusheda thousand tempestsMy thorns turned inwards striking my stemWorms crawled all over meYet my roots were intact – by Angelina Bong More works Malaysia
‘Too’, by RachDoesDesign
Too young to understand, Too scared to stay by RachDoesDesign Wales [The image features a form with chaotic hair spanning the entirety of the piece, lines and dots show the chaos of the mind]
‘PHOTOTHERAPY’, by Angi Holden
She stands uncertainly inside the cubicle, exposed to light from a dozen UV tubes. Machinery hums softly, the seconds tick away. A narrow slit connects her to the outside world. Friends have seen her skin, inflamed and bleeding, her swollen eyelids. She hasn’t mentioned synapse pain, the 2am, 3am, 4am explosions waking her, holding […]
‘The skin I wear’ by Wendy Jones
The skin I wear The skin I wear is a covering for my bones and flesh and I’m glad it holds it in but wonder sometimes why and sigh about the pain I’m in. It’s not as if I’ve fallen or didn’t watch where I was going, I was plodding on quite well I thought […]
‘hello pain let’s dance!’ by Wendy Jones
Hello pain let’s dance! Hello pain let’s dance together and cry a melody Just you and me forever which dance is it to be? A boogie or a waltz a tango or some jiving? Whatever the rhythm It’s time to do some living The violinist’s bow hews across its strings The drummer’s sticks do beat […]
‘Premature Ovarian Failure’, by S. L. Shuter
It’s 2am and my body is on fire. Every cell is boiling. Sweat creeps from my pores. It only takes a moment to soak through my favourite t-shirt, then through the sheets and mattress covered in yellow imprints. I can’t get any fucking sleep. This happens to me every night, up to ten times. Then […]
‘Superheroes in PJs’, by Grae Salisbury
This is shocking. I am not an object and I am not broken but the pain tells me differently. This is chronic. Why am I not adjusted yet? It comes and goes, it’s all my consciousness or all I want is to lie down. And when […]
‘Still Life’ by Jane Joritz-Nakagawa
hospital gown a flap in the back lights flickering tra la la obsessive screaming sounds of machines dissolving matter situated between two beds rupture of bodies declared missing delivered in close up by Jane Joritz-Nakagawa Japan Jane Joritz-Nakagawa’s most recent book is Poems: New and Selected (Isobar, 2018) on sale at Amazon
‘everyday pain’ by Sara Elgerot
The chaos of pain in every moment Inside me Playing its jarring jazz Impromptu – No set list Whilst I exist amongst you Cloaked I normalcy by Sara Elgerot Sweden
‘The Day That Never Ends’, by Mariana Gurgis
From our window, the clouds seemed static, frozen. Orange-and-green taxicabs drove through the slush six floors down. Tilly whimpered, buzzed for the nurse, asked for Dilaudid, whispered “good morning.” Swaddled in her sheets, she breathed hard. Phenolic air. She asked me how I was feeling. We lolled in our beds, our mothers asleep in their […]