“Two new lungs inflate within my beaten chest. I watch the rise and fall; my eyes are like an infant’s, opened for the first time, and I want to see.” Kindra M. Austin, The Rise and Fall “You don’t like what these eyes reflect, and I’m the one who disintegrates.” Kindra M. Austin, Disintegration “The … Continue reading Heavy Mental by Kindra M. Austin – A Review
To say I have been a fan over everything Jacqueline Cioffa has ever written would be an understatement. The woman has been gifted with the art of exquisite storytelling the likes of few others, and when she reached out to me to read an advance copy of her memoir, The Red Bench, I was beyond … Continue reading The Red Bench by Jacqueline Cioffa – An Advance Review by Nicole Lyons
It is a hard thing, when a mind creeps and wanders and everything you want to say comes out as everything you have sworn you wouldn’t. It is a very hard thing when a mind, so full and so bright, turns in on itself and darkness feels like home again. It is a hard thing … Continue reading A Hard Thing
I wonder what a quiet mind, full of light, would feel like; and if my memories could grow cold, or if you would turn hot, outside of the whispers in the shadows you have only ever known as home. Softly now, my darling. Darkness has withered the walls of this place, and it is heavy … Continue reading In Crimson Screams
It's suicide prevention month, and as most of you know, suicide is the second leading cause of death in children and teens, second to motor vehicle accidents. Imagine my surprise when I woke up at 3am (I rarely sleep when I am beginning to swing) and went to twitter and saw the following from this … Continue reading Depression is Real and So is Ignorance
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide and/or self-injury, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-TALK (8255). I’m not good right now I’m not well at all But here I am! Right over here I’m still alive Beating the odds As I’m holding on by a thread. … Continue reading The Truth About Living On Borrowed Time – Peter Olsen
I live days in defeat, beaten down by my own mind and the lies it whispers to me. But I have learned to put my feet up and rest easy on those days. For without that respite, I could never dance wildly when I live days in the sunshine of my victories. © Nicole Lyons … Continue reading I Live Days
Show me what it looks like, the beautiful part of the breaking. Describe it to me in a way that lets me feel it down deep where madness decays in my bones. I need to know there's beauty somewhere in all of these pieces so I can believe in something again and know this isn't … Continue reading Breaking Beautiful
Thank you to Feminine Collective for publishing Oblivion. It was written for a Creative Nonfiction challenge and it had to come in at under 1500 words, and it was by far one of my hardest writes to date, but I am extremely pleased with the end result. oblivion
It’s a war that can’t be won only fought It’s a pain that burns fresh and it burns deep It’s a disease that hides behind pretty smiles and sparkling eyes It’s a silent scream with bloody talons tearing through the soft flesh of my still beating heart It lurks just beneath the surface of … Continue reading Never Leave My Side – Abbie Zebrowski
Rhymes and Reasons
Sunshine on Razor Wire: perspectives from "inside"
presented by Kindra M. Austin
the maiden, mother and caffeinated crone
Poetry and prose by Basilike Pappa
