Poetry for Mental Health and Neurodiversity
Poetry here is organised by themes. Click on the drop down menus below to start reading. If you have something you'd like to share, please send it on to info@mentaldiy.com
Growing Up
Each thought a thread stitched with care,
My soul got stuffed in a teddy bear,
Each friend, each child, who I adore,
Farewell, for you won't need me anymore.
Context: Ireland has one of the highest rates of mental health problems in Europe and my home region 'Limerick' has the highest suicide rates. For a variety of reasons suicide rates are often underreported.
Statistics
My tears aren’t escaping, I’m feeling too sad,
At all of the things, my friends never had,
A few more years, a few more thoughts,
Just one more go at drawing lots,
How do I describe the vibe inside,
When my friends are driven to suicide,
The coroner jury debated clearly about potential hype,
So they hid all truth because of an ill-informed stereotype,
Politicians ran away, our justice system failed,
And none of these facilitators will ever be jailed.
Though the heart shatters, the truth still matters.
So the next isn’t perplexed let’s reject an old lie,
That the reality is what’s making us cry,
Minority groups and others receiving no love but rejection,
Our services need undercover randomised inspection,
There were no metrics for their state of confusion,
If we don’t admit our problems then when can we find a solution?
All that hurt, all that pain,
At the very least, don’t let them die in vain.