Anger Anxiety Authenticity Bitterness Christ Christian Poetry Depression Determination Disappointment Easter Emotions faith Fear Forgiveness Friendship God Gratitude Guilt Haiku Healing Hope Joy Lament Love Pain Perfectionism Perspective Poetry Pride Reading Redemption Regret Rejection Rumination Shame Temptation Thankfulness Trauma Trust Truth Worship Writing

I write poems of light and dark. From the darkness of my experience of depression to the light of my faith and hope in Jesus Christ. On some days, my poems feel like a brightening dawn. On others, like a deepening dusk. But always I hold on to the truth. That the light will overcome Continue reading

To the sadness in my heart, I see you, I hear you. I will discern what is true but first tell me your story. Resentment, I see youI suppressed my painI lied to myselfAgain and again Pretended I was alrightMade excuses for othersBuried the seeds of hurtDeep under the covers And now you writheIn the depths of Continue reading

I see my poems on depression as a way of understanding me. When I bury my feelings in the dark, I find that I am condemned to wander round in circles without knowing why. I do not see them as declarations of truth. I know the bleakness in them is a distorted image. But understanding Continue reading

For me, poetry shows a snapshot of what I feel in the moment. I am learning not to bind myself to them or define myself by them. I am learning that the true value is in digging behind the thoughts, unveiling the assumptions, hunting for the truth and plotting a way forward. On these pagesThings Continue reading

‘The opposite of depression is not happiness. It is vitality.’ Andrew Solomom This poem about depression was inspired by the film Tenet and the above quote by Andrew Solomon. A lament I see cold stars In dark skies Their blue light No warmth provides A black sun rises Radiant dark Light flees into cracks Night Continue reading

This poem talks of one of the challenges I have faced in recovering from depression. I am learning that we have to open up to safe people to heal. And though healing hurts, staying wounded hurts even more A lament What will I suffer for? For what will I bear this pain? The trauma inside Continue reading

Do what you love To break yourself free But if I do too much My mind cracks beneath me It’s a balancing act Edging across a tightrope But I have no balancing bar So how can I have any hope? I am left to struggle To find the answers on my own But whichever way Continue reading

They bury themselves Like toxic abscesses Out of sight Hidden in deep recesses We don’t realise That in darkness they grow Set down foundations Build an iron throne We try to forget Pretend they do not exist But when squeezed by pressure The pus escapes with a hiss The festering infection drains us Weakens our Continue reading

Rejection is a deep pain. I am learning to find acceptance and healing in Christ. A lament I have always felt like A disappointment Even the times When I actually wasn’t There were always barriers That I had to climb In order to be accepted In order to be liked I tried to be What Continue reading

My thoughts crowd in With twitching arms Twisted branches unfurling Rising from dark hearts Their roots are deep Entrenched in my mind In me, they have festered For a very long time Failure planted some A cruel word nurtured one here Rejection scattered many seeds This thorny one is from fear Every day I must Continue reading

Wandering lamb Caught in a bush It strayed into wastelands In search for food The thorns pierce Gash it with sorrow Every move the lamb makes Only causes them to burrow Wolves wait Shivering with the thrill There’s no need to attack If the lamb does not still But on it struggles Thrashing about But Continue reading