I wrote a poem.

[Monr0e]

This is probably the wrong place to put this, and I'm really not sure what I'm asking. But in a nutshell, I wrote a poem and don't know what to do with it.

The longer version is, I had postnatal depression after the birth of my second DC. I recovered well but a couple of years later it was on my mind a lot. I would wake and in those moments before I became fully awake I would have words and sentences come to mind. Eventually, one morning, I sat up and wrote the words down and in the space of an hour or so I wrote my poem. And never gave it another thought. Until a few years later I was completing my midwifery training and we were discussing postnatal depression and I shared it with my cohort. The first people who ever heard it.

It is deeply personal to me, and very private. And I'm not exactly sure what I'm asking, but I'd like to put it out there in some way. Not as in get it published, I in no way think it's good enough for that. But just to do something with it, to show its mine. This probably makes no sense at all, sorry. I just think, I could die tomorrow and no one would know I had ever done this thing, that actually I'm quite proud of.

Sorry for the essay! I couldn't think where else to ask and this seemed like the most appropriate place. Thank you 😊

It sounds as though your poem is something that could help or comfort others suffering from PND, so I wonder if a PND-specific internet forum or social media group might be a good place to share it.

Don't think in terms of whether it's 'good enough' to publish. Unfortunately it's very hard to get poetry traditionally published however good it is.

It might be worth looking online (just Google) for poetry competitions you could enter but beware of scams - don't pay any money to anyone!

I wish I could give you better advice, but I'm a novel writer, not a poet - I hope someone experienced in poetry might come along with more specific suggestions for you.

The important thing is that you've created something you can be proud of and you've already shared it with your fellow midwives so it's out there even if only amongst a small group.

Chipmunka Publishing publish poetry from a MH aspect. I knew somebody who'd publish their books of poetry there, whether they accept single poems I don't know. Possibly for a compilation of authors? If you need a collection in order to publish you could try your hand at writing more .

Thank you both, you've both given me some ideas to try.

I'm not sure how helpful it would be to others, it's quite dark, written about when I was in the depths of pnd. But I'd be happy to share with others in the same boat.

As for writing more. I have written one other poem, I was asked to write one for our graduation Ball which also came quite easily to me. So that's a grand total of 2. I don't think there will be any book deals any time soon

If you are happy for others to read and don't want these to be lost like tears in the rain then why not create an instagram account and publish them. It's not pure poetry but Samantha of Quarterlife poetry turned poems and illustrations into books and TV. Good luck.

Thanks @Zilla1 I am happy for them to be seen.

I'm not a big Instagram user though but will take a look.

Hello @Monr0e, well done for creating a poem that speaks honestly of your experience. Words like this can speak greatly into people's lives.

I often share my poems on social media - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - and find people do respond because like you I write from a place of honesty (about long term illness) and people always say the poems express what they want to say but can't. So you might be giving someone a voice, a chance to express the unsaid. The first few times I was nervous but people were kind and it got easier, to the extent I was able to publish a book of poetry. So keep going - it's a beautiful thing to do, and the more you do it, the more you'll find the words flowing.

Hi @Monr0e, well done on the poem! They can be really tough to write and even harder to share.

I work with a poetry editing service, Tell Tell Poetry (I am not an editor!) who do a lot of helping people prep for submission, guiding and editing, and self-publishing for those who want to go that way with their collections. They've got what I think is a good blog post about submitting your work out to magazines, which might be helpful? There's lots there free about submitting and publishing.

To be clear, I'm not trying to sell the company particularly because I work with them, but they have quite a few resources on their website for free and if you were looking to pursue editing or submission support, then they are lovely and genuine people. Personally, I don't know a thing about poetry so their free resources are all I know!!!

Thank you

Im not quite brave enough to put it on my Facebook page. Not at the moment anyway. Well done on publishing yours.

I will take a look at the blog, thank you.

Good luck with getting it out there @Monr0e

@whatsagoodusername thank you for sharing that blog post