emotional health – Page 12 – FEMININE COLLECTIVE

I Am

May 18, 2018May 17, 2018 Julie Anderson

Stunned into silence when I joined the ranks of the secret keepers, we speak with our eyes only, that is why my lashes linger, faintly shut. I am protecting my soul from the secret thieves, like the others. We are quietly watching, waiting, wondering when you will be brave enough Read more

Who, you?

May 18, 2018May 17, 2018 Mika Durrant

“Who, you!?” She exclaimed with a gasp, After I told her, I too, felt out of place Under watchful gazes in the tattoo parlor People seemingly made of other stuff. “But you’re so… you know, cool!” I wondered when, this face had become seen as such. The face kept Read more

On Mental Health Awareness Month

May 17, 2018May 26, 2023 Dori Owen

Music sweet music, I wish I could caress, caress, caress, manic depression’s a frustrating mess. —Jimi Hendrix, Manic Depression Please allow me to introduce myself. I am not a serial killer. I have never been a character on Criminal Minds. All I really am is just a girl with a Read more

survivor

May 13, 2018May 13, 2018 Rebecca Kokitus

I never thought of myself as a survivor / just in the wrong place at the wrong time / don’t get in an elevator with someone who makes you uncomfortable, just take the stairs his first kiss, my first sexual assault / go home smelling like the teenager I never Read more

Her

May 2, 2018August 13, 2021 Judith Staff

A rare chance to leave work early, and pick my youngest child up afterschool. Parents I recognize only vaguely, cluster in the playground, some talking in groups, others marginalised, standing alone on the periphery. I stare into my phone, looking preoccupied, the stark divisions shredding my nerves with anxiety. She’s Read more

Zombie Nation

April 29, 2018September 16, 2018 Jacqueline Cioffa

I have met too many friends and foes that say they don’t care about politics. They don’t care about equality, racism, mental illness, sexual harassment, and gun violence shrugging their shoulders brushing off the uncomfortable, the taboo. It’s not happening to me. That’s the poor man’s excuse, cowardice is plain Read more

Scars

April 29, 2018October 15, 2018 Carly Zee

Proud muscle Battered and bruised A child, proud of strength And power That came with skinned knees and bruised shins Launching – Into flight Or fury To all who opposed Her fierce will But, they admonished If you have scars No one will marry you Unattractive knees Belied her Read more

Fishes

April 25, 2018October 15, 2018 Paakhi Bhatnagar

I have always felt that humans were like the sea- the unfathomable girth of their chests as they inhale the decadence of their families, the expansive ripples in their eyes like the tides washing over their moral sense, polluted in plastic the sea bass trying to breathe through polythene, coral Read more