Readily it comes to me,Easily, like a skin I slip into,Judiciously chosen for comfort.Even when unsought, it sitsClose by, ready to offer itself.Take nothing for granted,It whispers. Question all motives.Overt or hidden, it never leaves,Never leaves me be. Some days, slow days, it seemsEasy-going as though, for that moment, it mightNot bother anyone. Trickster.Sly thing.Continue reading “Unmasking Acrostic”
Tag Archives: mental health
Sisyphus, Niggle and the Resurrection
Earlier this year, for no apparent reason, I started writing a series of poems in which the mythical Greek king Sisyphus has conversations with various historical and fictional characters. I was probably inspired by teaching Albert Camus to my Year 11 Literature class, who made the figure of Sisyphus into a powerful metaphor of humanityContinue reading “Sisyphus, Niggle and the Resurrection”
Neurochemistry
I’m not sure how science describes it butsometimes a neuron seeking safe passage yetfinding nonesimplyenters black spacewhere nothing is thought or feltas reprieve from thinking,feeling too much.And in that spaceis only staticonly the humming oflost signals.Emptied, what canspeak or console?What can reconnect?Devils silenced, but sothe voice of angels.In this deadness no strong manneed cast theContinue reading “Neurochemistry”
The Story of a Brain: My life with Big O
As an school-aged child, I was very orderly. My family would say, immaculate. Everything had its place and I noticed it anything was out of place, even if it was only by a centimetre. I always kept my hair neat, patting it down with water to keep it from sticking up at the back. MyContinue reading “The Story of a Brain: My life with Big O”
Ubi Caritas: For World Mental Health Day
What happens, he wonders,shattered by the mess, by the day,by the constancy of demands,by the ever-present lesson of patience,by the daily failure to learn this patience -What happens, he asks, when my love is broken?Nothing happens. The day goes on,all is reset as night arrives;all but the weight that pulls at his shoulders,that sags likeContinue reading “Ubi Caritas: For World Mental Health Day”
Coronavirus, with OCD
Wash your hands; don’t touch your face. Did I wash my hands, and did I touch my face after? Before? Don’t be afraid but be aware. Wash your hands; don’t touch your face. These sightless microbes swim in air. Your nose is dripping. Touch your face. Wash your hands. Don’t be afraid. It all mayContinue reading “Coronavirus, with OCD”
Spring Cleaning
There are many lurkingplaces in the mind and many nooks… The old man is covered up in a thousand wrappings. (Lancelot Andrewes, Preces Privatae) Open the door. Let sun expose dust, moth-eaten wool and mould around cornices. Years of grime collect on window frames; you forgot that the sideboard had an underneath. And there tooContinue reading “Spring Cleaning”
No Ghosts This Year Concludes, and a Christmas Gift
Well, today is the last day of Advent, and so it is time for me to wrap up my Advent story for the year. If you’ve been following the story so far, you can read the last instalment below. But, if you’re new to this year’s story you can read the rest of it, plusContinue reading “No Ghosts This Year Concludes, and a Christmas Gift”
Mental Health November Week 4: No, you’re not “just a bit OCD”
Wanting to keep things neat and tidy is not OCD. Straightening crooked pictures is not OCD. Demarcating your work-space clearly is not OCD. All of these things might point to OCD but they could just as likely not. Having invasive, repeated and unwanted thoughts that drive you to perform compulsions in an attempt to controlContinue reading “Mental Health November Week 4: No, you’re not “just a bit OCD””
No Ghosts This Year: A Story of Advent #1
hen holidays came, it would be okay. But for now Philip just had the long waiting days. The sun deceives us, he thought, into believing it’s holidays before it is. Last weekend he had made the mistake of sitting out on the verandah with his book, like he used to do with his sister inContinue reading “No Ghosts This Year: A Story of Advent #1”
The Consolations of Writing 