Put It To Rest: “Stepping Out From Shadows To Healing” Prompt & Highlights (Newsletter 17)
Poetry and prose on mental health and relationships
Put It To Rest wishes to inspire writers to participate in the “Stepping Out From the Shadows Into Healing” writing prompt (Submissions are open for the month of July).
When we discuss trauma recovery we tend to see this journey as linear and that a full recovery can be made. But sometimes a person may need to accept that their pain lives alongside them. Perhaps learning to live with the pain in healthy ways is the reality for trauma survivors.
How do you live alongside the pain? Do you? Can you?
I’ve been coming to this realization myself and it inspired When Purple Rain Is Falling As Dove’s Cry, Let’s Go Crazy In The Sky. The poem is a tribute to Prince, and the message is that despite the pain, one can dance and celebrate life too:
That’s when we find
it’s okay to say
let’s go crazy
despite the tsunami
elevator we ride
up and down
side to side
but that doesn’t mean
we have to slide. — Lindsay Soberano-Wilson
Put It To Rest wants to thank all of its writers for their relatable, raw, and heartfelt submissions. Please enjoy reading some of our recent and favorite poetry and personal essay submissions on mental health, trauma, addiction, abuse, and relationships.
Poetry
Melissa Steussy I Haven't Had A Drink In 24 Years
Drinking never solved
My problems but it
Did exacerbate them,
waste my time
And resources
Theodore McDowell Retching Dreams
Drug corner,
broken streetlamp,
edgy dealers,
needles behind crates.
Charlie Cole The Beauty of Broken Glass
Residents of the fragmented
Confident to shine amid the wreckage
Unencumbered by visage’s demands
Invigorated
Rebecca Herz Trauma I Refuse to Fear You
Poor serpent, you cannot strangle
my soul, or suffocate my Self
you are but a coward in a monster’s body
your bite is dull, your venom harmless as nectar
that will someday nurture roses
Lindsay Soberano-Wilson Bleeding Hearts
So let the rain fall in the open air
and seep deep into the blades
of sweet green grass
caressing the smooth, jagged, and jaded edges
of our bleeding hearts.
Stephanie Parry Broken Heart Song
the hope I held onto
was misplaced in your care,
my trust melted
in the slippery fingers
of your fickle hands
Their sweetness is seen through the grapevine
but not touched
trembling in isolation
Personal Essays
GB Rogut You Don’t Have To Be Your Abuser’s Keeper
In the end, your greatest crime isn’t being a victim. It’s worse than that: you let the world know. You ripped the veil from what seemed to be a perfect life and exposed the ugly truth.
Tiffany Simone Repeating Myself
I didn’t observe a healthy relationship as a child, so how can I possibly know how to be in one? We preach kindness, yet we struggle to give it to ourselves. We refuse to even let it in.
Lindsay Soberano-Wilson I Don’t Have to Keep the Peace, But I’ll Protect My Peace
It’s not my problem to make myself feel small to make others feel better. I’m sick and tired of being told I’m “causing a scene” when I address poor customer service…
Melissa Steussy Do You Have Any Scars?
Physical scars are one thing. But what about our emotional scars? The ones just below the surface, where we were hurt by words or actions. Maybe we were physically hurt and the pain still exists even though there isn’t a physical representation of it anymore.
New Submission Guidelines
Please find our Updated Submission Guidelines. HERE.
Put It To Rest Is Open for Submissions
Put It To Rest is a mental health publication specializing in poetry, personal essays, and short stories. In the Spring of 2021, Lindsay was inspired to create Put It To Rest after the publication of I Call This Trauma in FreshVoices22. The poem champions the empowerment of giving voice to trauma through art.
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