“Amongst the Wildflowers”
I grew up amongst the wildflowers,
Where honeysuckle nights,
Blew the colored winds,
Through the fan-fared window.
“Amongst the Wildflowers”
I grew up amongst the wildflowers,
Where honeysuckle nights,
Blew the colored winds,
Through the fan-fared window.
Madwomen in the Attic is seeking featured writers for The Featured Writer Project’s 2021-2020 writing year, which will begin in January 2021 and end in January 2022. Continue reading “Call for 2021-2022 Featured Writers”
Take Care
I know you feel like ain’t nobody there
I know that you’re a good person and life just ain’t fair
Know you’re surrounded by people and you still feel alone
I know they’re looking at you crazy and you’re too afraid to share
Take care Continue reading “Jillian Hanesworth”
LOOKING FOR ROCHESTER
I’m writing this essay on a glorious day in July—Independence Day, actually—and I’m here to discuss looking for my own independence, which is not to say, loneliness or even solitude which I gratefully have and enjoy. Guests come and go, are marvelous company while they’re here, but it’s hard to deny that having the space again to balloon up your own ego, and things such as the nail on which to hold your own red potholders, is nice. Continue reading “Jane Barnes”
Sipping Tea
and smokin weed
and
watering tomatoes
we gon be broke forever
we want that
it scares them Continue reading “Nina Marin”
My Choice Not to Choose Then
“You and Tyra are more than friends, aren’t you?” My mother sat at the opposite end of the table. Continue reading “D’Lisa Darluz”
Birthday Song
danced out of my mother’s womb
naked cold
cocooned in the afterbirth of art
cord snip cut
cries mute to scream
soul activated
oh, how the harsh light hurts
this was the house I was assigned to Continue reading “Jacquie Prebich”
Two years ago, a friend of mine who works and advocates within the mental health system in Erie County, NY asked me to write something for the Anti-Stigma Coalition. I wanted to write about the RISKS involved with asking for help because this is a topic that is often avoided because those who work within the mental health system do not want to deter potential consumers from seeking services, but the reality is that there are risks involved with seeking help – and that sometimes force and trauma are packaged as or folded into help, and this is something that every consumer and person deserves to know before they seek help for themselves or others – or have help forced upon them.
Below is what I wrote for the coalition – it didn’t jive with the campaign’s mission but it does jive with MITA’s mission, and so it’s been sitting in a folder for two years, but I decided to post it up in the event that someone out there reads it and finds it meaningful or helpful. This short essay was written primarily for people who identify as consumers but is likely to be relevant to those who do not identify as consumers or those who identify as psychiatric survivors. It was written by someone who was harmed, not helped, by the mental health system, and by someone who does not identify as a consumer – but, rather, as a survivor. Continue reading “To Seek Help or Not to Seek Help: Taking Precautions and Being Proactive Choice-makers”
exordium
When you aren’t there to witness something, all you have is imagination, mine was toxic.
Mine should have come with its own hazmat suit, recalled at birth. Continue reading “Aimee Herman”
Madwomen in the Attic is excited to announce that we are teaming up with Green Buffalo Productions on The Big O (for Oppression) Project, and that we are extending our submission period until the end of May. Continue reading “Call for Submissions: The Big O (for Oppression) Project”