THE MADNESS VASE

~By Andrea Gibson~

The trauma said, “Don’t write these poems.

Nobody wants to hear you cry

about the grief inside your bones.”

But my bones said, “Tyler Clementi jumped

from the George Washington Bridge

into the Hudson River convinced

he was entirely alone.”

My bones said, “Write the poems.”

I’m including this excerpt in my About section because I often hear an inner voice that says, "Don’t share your writing.” For me, sharing my writing feels more vulnerable than sharing my artwork, and therefore I try to shelter it.

I began to write poetry at the age of 13, to express my inner struggles. I wrote poems about beautiful magical places as well as dark pieces about depression and suicide. The pieces I've chosen to share here on my website are moments of emotion that are frozen in time, reflecting where I was in my past. I’ve chosen to share them because I now know that I was never alone in my struggles.

My hope is to weave my BLOG posts together, and add context, so they flow in a more linear fashion. I also intend in the future to BLOG about art and mental wellness - so not just my creative writing from the past!

I hope you'll join me on my journey towards Mental Wellness. :)