Tag: wellness

Self-Palinopsia 

leejanetaylor

(First published by Tarot Poetry, Dec 2024 Edition)

1 Light Streaking

In plastic envelopes floating kicking joy 

sun in eyes barbecuing skin already pink

taste of chlorine and the white noise roar 

of fun I am a star fish smiling unabridged

for the woman behind a mechanical eye

with my cousin posing giggling in

heart shaped glasses Marilyn and 

Madonna in mind later still in white linen

dress and court shoes leaning hands tilt 

with precision meaningful position of chin

eyes watch the lens seeing the eyes

first trip to Europe first digital snaps

together relaxed, fixed in place by great

monuments of history, memory, births, war

pregnancies and victories all store faithful 

in boxed wires until electric mayhem poof

outsourced digital mind melt metal smote

smell of plasticated smoke memento lost.

2 Visual Trailing

Now platforms gathered momentum

amass populations of memory investment

smart phones become sensory organs of

the internet, pictures of me store in a 

strange cloud more fungal than cumulus

roots grown in eccentric locations New 

Mexico deserts, factory basements hosts 

of hard drives pictures seed in digits one 

mouse click, spores electric race into outer 

space refract back to Earth’s gravity

pictures of me channel through fibrous

roots underground into a study where

a face appears on a screen – me

awkward at a dinner ocean view selfies

see the camera see it reflect in sunglasses

always see it look back even in sleep see 

filters and zoom angles in mechanised 

dreams pictures of me disappear in sheer

volume reduce to visual trail I am mere

molecules in a single cell of memory within

a vast shrooming digital hive of mind.

3 Illusory or Hallucinatory

After pictures of me in hospital databanks

maps geographic of moles, my ulcerated 

mouth, that rash, the lining of my gut 

each bump and fold each shade of red one 

hundred images imbed splices of spine

its awkward bend my brain in black and white

slides rendered all waiting to be read, each

temple layer casually perused by curious

file surf glance through my insides all of my 

secret places once sacred soon dated

scored and recorded.

4 After-imagery

Pictures of me, too many to count

they float in envelopes, posed fixed 

by monuments some lost, some stored 

random images collect on platforms

dispersal in electronic fungal blooms 

finally, pictures of me, my interior bodily 

treasons kept locked by government agency, 

an account of self saved for perpetuity.

Photo by traf on Unsplash

10 Ways Poetry Supports Wellness

leejanetaylor1 Comment

Feeling blue? Aches and pains got the better of you? Pick up a pen or chapbook – poetry has your back!

It’s been a stormy time up at the Sky House. Once again, poetry has saved my life (the love and care of family and a strained but persevering public health system were also essential ingredients)! I’ve been thinking about all the ways writing and consuming poetry can support wellness. Here is my top 10 list…

  1. Reading poetry can teach you to listen closely and hear subtleties of expression. Reading can teach you to write with more intuition and intent.
  2. Writing poetry is a way of feeling truely heard. No one knows me like my poetry journals! Writing makes you a more perceptive reader.
  3. Poetry is a way of connecting with nature, the past, people different from you, people with shared experiences.
  4. Meaning in poetry is conveyed in a plurality of form, image, metaphor, sound. This can be cathartic, allowing you to vent, unload and express ideas and feelings that are difficult to articulate.
  5. Observe how you respond to pieces of writing and poetry can help you build self-awareness.
  6. Poetry can increase your vocabulary. I love it when I need a dictionary or thesaurus to help me! This enhances your understanding or articulation of whatever is important to you.
  7. Poetry with its unexpected syntax might enhance or preserve your mental flexibility. Like crosswords or sodoku – but way more entertaining!
  8. Poetry requires mindful (fully concentrated) reading and helps you let go of everything but this moment right now.
  9. Poetry is the native language of history, challenge, deconstruction, emotion, beauty and invention.
  10. They say in the ancient times after battle, the victorious spared the poets so they would tell the tale of their glory. So, in an apocalyptic war, poetry might literally save your life!

WARNING Any effective treatment has side effects. Treating a busy lifestyle with poetry may result in an overuse syndrome. Symptoms may include: Compulsive consumption i.e. it is difficult to stop reading /writing, blurry vision, thinking in a “poetic voice”, rhyming your grocery list, paper cuts. If you are experiencing these, Sky House recommends a nice cup of tea and a nap. Consult a librarian if symptoms persist.

Take care everyone,

Lee x

Sky House Manifesto

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Poetry and Calm

Poetry is (and should be!) so many things – abstract art, sociopolitical critique, a voice of the marginalised, humour, satire, a call to arms. A gem to wear under your skin. A vessel for dreams and dark magics.

My aim is to publish some of my poems here that support reflective thinking and calm. I will also be posting some reading recommendations, as well as relevant self-care tips*. In particular, around the use of mindful reading and writing to promote calm and wellness “steps to the front door of your own sky-house”.

Like any writer my poems will walk where they are want to go. Many germinate in the dark corners and dusty margins of life, in tunnels underground. I nurture them towards the light – because we all need more hope in our lives. Of course, hope is not pretending everything is well. Hope is staring head-on into the centre of darkness, finding a faint star, and holding focus on that promise of light.

while illness contains me, poetry sustains me

Poetry can be used effectively as a stimulus for a more mindful approach in our thinking and communicating. This is more than a psychological band-aid. This is a kind of replenishing self-care we all require in some form, in order to persevere with whatever battles we join – environmental, satirical or otherwise.

Reading recommendations and other feedback are warmly welcomed.

* These are informed by my psychology training and years of clinical experience as a therapist, as well as by my own experience of chronic illness.