Tag: poetry

May 2025 Poetry Challenge

mendingthebrokenLeave a comment

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love poetry. I love writing it, reading it, analysing it – there is just something about it that helps to calm me and get my thoughts out on paper. I thought I’d do something a little bit different and start a poetry challenge. Please tag me in your poems (@recovering_my_ sparkle on Instagram) and use the hashtag maypoetrychallenge as well!

  1. A letter to your past self – what advice would you give the younger you?
  2. A place that feels like home – describe a location that brings comfort to you.
  3. Things left unsaid – write about words you never said out loud and what they mean to you.
  4. Roots and wings – write about growth and freedom.
  5. The language of flowers – choose a flower and let it ‘speak’.
  6. Firelight and shadows – explore warmth and fear in contrast using the metaphors of fire and shadows.
  7. Echoes of laughter – pick out a joyful memory and write about that.
  8. The love that changed you – whether it’s romantic or platonic, how did this love shape you?
  9. If your reflection spoke back – what would it say?
  10. A letter from the stars – what would they say?
  11. A scar tells a story – physical or emotional, what do your scars say?
  12. The first time you felt free – capture that moment and the emotions that you felt.
  13. A secret you never said – it can be real or imagined.
  14. A thunderstorm inside you – how does this feel?
  15. Love letter to a stranger – write to someone you’ll never meet.
  16. The ghost of someone still alive – a person who drifted away.
  17. The taste of nostalgia – capture a memory through tatse.
  18. A storm that never ends – what would it feel like to live inside this?
  19. The colour of loneliness – what colour would it be, and why? Is this something you can relate to?
  20. A world without fear – imagine it, describe it, paint a picture (through words) about what it would be like.
  21. If I could hold time in my hands… – Start by finishing this line, what would you do with it?
  22. A place you can never return to – physically or emotionally.
  23. A dream that felt more real than reality – what happened?
  24. Write a poem that ends with a beginning – a cycle, a rebirth, a new start.
  25. A clock that runs too fast (or too slow) – what would it change?
  26. The garden that only blooms at night – what would grow there? What things bloom and thrive in the darkness?
  27. The sound of healing – talk about what you believe healing, recovery, forgiveness, or peace sounds like.
  28. A conversation with the moon – what would you say? What would it reply?
  29. Tomorrow begins with… – finish the thought.
  30. The first line of a new chapter – what do you think is next for you in your life?

Let me know how you get on!

All my love,

Anna x

Is This What Safe Looks Like?

mendingthebrokenLeave a comment

I recently wrote, performed and shared this spoken word poem on my TikTok account and it seems that a lot of people could relate to it. If you can relate, I’m incredibly sorry, but I also hope you find some comfort in knowing that you’re not alone in feeling this way.

They say,

“Call for help.”

But I did.

And help came

with flashing lights

and cold stares

and hands too firm

for someone already breaking.

“Trust the system,” they said.

But I did.

And the system strapped me down,

spoke over me

called me non-compliant

when I was just

trying not to fall apart.

Safe?

You tell me what’s safe

about being told

your story is “too much”.

That your pain

needs a label

before it gets attention?

What’s safe

about uniforms

that make your skin crawl,

white coats

that feel like warning signs,

and police who ask questions

but don’t really want the answers?

I learned the hard way:

“Safe” is a lie

when you’ve been hurt

by the helpers.

When your cries

get translated into crazy.

When your trauma

gets brushed off as behavioural.

When your body

is treated

but your soul

is left bleeding in the waiting room.

You see,

no one tells you

how much bravery it takes

just to walk through the door

of a hospital

when the last one left scars.

No one talks about

how the ones with the power

can do damage

with a clipboard and a checklist,

with a shrug,

with a sedative

with a look that says,

“You again?”

This is what it’s like to be afraid

of the people you’re told to run to.

To flinch

when the sirens wail

in the streets.

To go quiet

in the presence of authority

because the last time you spoke –

it cost you something.

So don’t ask

why I didn’t tell you sooner.

Why I waited.

Why I lied and said “I’m fine.”

Because when “help” feels like harm

silence becomes survival.

And I’ve mastered the art

of sounding okay

just enough

to stay alive.

But I’m tired.

I want safe

to mean something again.

I want healing that doesn’t hurt.

I want care that listens before it labels,

that asks before it acts,

that sits with me

before it tries to fix me.

Because I’m not a problem.

I’m a person.

And I don’t want to be saved –

I want to be seen.

Here is a link to the original TikTok incase you want to hear it spoken rather than just reading it:

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdYwQbUu/

All my love,

Anna x