Mental Health
Chronic Pain Teaches in Whispers
Chronic Pain Teaches in Whispers Intro Chronic pain has shaped the way I move through the world. It’s not a battle anymore, and it’s not a story of defeat. It’s a quiet teacher, one that slows me down, sharpens my awareness, and reminds me that the body carries its own kind of wisdom. These three small pieces come from the rhythm of living with pain and learning to walk gently with it.
By Vicki Lawana Trusselli 3 months ago in Poets
Addiction's Whisper. Runner-Up in Static Challenge. Top Story - August 2026.
It whispers... The constant tension, bound in crackling, gradient whiteness the fast fragmenting sound of barely camouflaged crisis the colorless hymn of stasis singing in each last ear the rhythmless hum, a basis for every background fear. And I listen. It whispers... Like coiling spring or serpent, it's a long-impeded flow all made of breath, unspent, with nowhere good to go; a hungering voice without vent - charged, and waiting to blow. And I listen. It whispers... Torn 'twixt fight and flight, this body opts for freeze, quaking, cracking, cast alight upon the venomous breeze; clinging to numb marcescence while captured is all of time by this atrophying presence: drone chorus without a rhyme. And I listen. It whispers: who, and where, and why you are never shall they change your light is lost, a stillborn star in resting place most strange - a flickering screen, a dim-lit bar - anywhere in this addiction's range. And I listen. It whispers... and I think to myself it is about time that I said something back. before lost am I forever in whispering fields of white, and gray, and black.
By Gabriel Huizenga3 months ago in Poets
"Should I Depart Early" Unofficial Poetry Challenge
Hi, all! For those who haven't seen my poems from last week - yes, I'm back on Vocal after a long-ish hiatus. And yes, this has happened before. What can I say, I ebb and flow like the tide. It's become a regular enough thing that I think at some point soon I'll stop mentioning it entirely! But for now, I can think of no better way to get reconnected with this lovely community than to send out another unofficial challenge, and see what inevitable brilliance you lot conjure up. So without further ado, I'd like to announce the start of my "Should I Depart Early" Unofficial Poetry Challenge!
By Gabriel Huizenga3 months ago in Poets
Worker Bee
Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz All day All day All day long I work I work I work I work all day long Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz Pile more work More work More work On me It’s OK OK OK I can carry it It won’t Bother me Buzz… Buzz… Buzz… Buzz… Buzz… Buzz… I’m all right All right No slowing down Slowing down For me Buzz … Buzz … Buzz … I’m fine I say I’m fine No burnout No, not me Buzz … I’m… done
By Stephanie Hoogstad3 months ago in Poets
