OCD Poetry: Making Light of Mental Health

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Marc Latham’s latest Folding Mirror poem tries to find a lighter side to OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), which David Beckham is supposed to suffer from in a not serious way, but can be fatal for some people.

Arts and Minds Mental Health Philosophy

Finding a lighter side to raise awareness of this serious issue is in line with the philosophy of Arts and Minds, Leeds, which Marc Latham is a member of.  If anybody would like more information, there is an OCD-UK charity, and probably one in your country.  Marc Latham knows this poem is unlikely to cure anybody of OCD, but hopes it will do more good than harm.

The Poem

Turning Around OCD

cod doc
file of fish

only control direction
obvious central division
obsession can’t deliver

doctor of fish
doc cod

Poem about Bipolar from Underground to Solar

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This poem by Marc Latham is quite an old one.  Marc held back on it as he thought it might be interpreted incorrectly, with readers thinking it made him sound all high and mighty.

It is in fact about the highs and lows of the bipolarity Marc thinks he’s had for a long time.  While the highs, or mania, can make you think you are in touch with special thoughts, the lows can make you think that life is completely futile and not worth bothering with.  Understanding what it is helps to weather the time spent on the fringes, and harness the creative thoughts the condition provides.

So while Marc guesses that most normal people, as only a small minority are supposed to be bipolar, have a much more rational or middle thought process, bipolar people spend more time on the edges of thought, where the rational gives way to the creative.

That’s probably why a lot of bipolar people seek release in creativity, while those with normal brain processes are happy in regular jobs.

Marc doesn’t think one is superior over the other, it is just a matter of different brains working differently, which also occurs in animals.

Grammatically, the poem is a little different to previous ones in that it has similar words ending and starting the lines in the two halves.

Anyway, here it is:

Mine Bipolar Mind 

high, high, high, look at my
mine mind as it fly
flies soaring at its peak
peaks and  glides, you wouldn’t speak
speaks to me, shouts to you
yours wouldn’t reach, my higher view

All is calm on the equator of the mind

You’ve got me, I’m feeling blue
blued by me, felled by you
your nightmare depths, I pass below
beneath normal limits of sorrow
sorrows and woes attacking mood
moody, moody, moody, backwards I stood

Vote Paper is the Planet’s Gold?

I was just going to cheekily put up a link to my slogan for the WWF and TetraPak initiative to save the planet’s forests, but then this little FM ditty came out. So hopefully you’ll like it, and like the idea enough to vote for Paper is the Planet’s Gold.

There’s more details after the poem.

The Poem

Gold and Paper Compared

gold is dazzling
yellow shiny metal
glowing like spring’s
flower petal
brightening up the world

Paper is the Planet’s Gold

trees colour the land
wearing many
shades they stand
silently absorbing carbon
and providing paper

The Cause

WWF and Tetrapak have joined up for an exciting new initiative where you can enter a slogan to help promote renewability. Tetrapak have pledged to donate £1 for every idea entered, and 10 pence for every vote to WWF’s forest saving work.

My slogan was: Paper is the Planet’s Gold and the explanation is that it would hopefully help people:

Compare the value of gold in global financial markets to trees for Planet Earth’s life. This will hopefully emphasise the value of paper and other products derived from living sources, and the need to use them sparingly and recycle as much as possible.

Win a Panda, Tiger or Dolphin

By voting you can win a WWF ‘Adopt Animal’ gift, such as adopting a panda, tiger or dolphin for free. So please vote for Paper is the Planet’s Gold!

A Penny for my Poetry

Sorry there hasn’t been any new poetry lately, but there’s been a lot going down, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I’m planning to do a little running for the planet and to give back a bit of that tree paper I’ve used. If you’d like to donate anything towards it I’d be mighty grateful…as will the planet I hope!

My Just Giving page is where you can donate and the money goes straight to the charity.

I’ve coughed up £20 to enter the run and get a lunch, and I’m supposed to raise £25. More poetry soon. Cheers.

New Charity Sponsorship on FMPoetry

SocialVibe had a message on WordPress when I logged in today, asking WordPressers to instal their widget to help raise money for charity.

You choose a charity and a sponsor, and if readers click the widget the sponsor gives money to the charity.

It seems a win-win situation for me, you, and the charities, so I’ve installed it, and hope you’ll click it to your heart’s content.

I’ve chosen an uncontroversial charity and sponsor, in line with the apolitical nature of this site.

I’ve also deactivated some other widgets I installed at the start but haven’t really used; I’d wanted to do that before but had forgotten where they were, or never really knew from the start!

So, I already feel rewarded for doing my bit!!