
VERSIFICATION
SPECIAL EDITION
MARCH
2021
HEAR THE VOICES BEHIND THE MEDICATION

Each poem includes an audio recording of the poet reading their work
WARNING DISTURBING CONTENT

NOT INSANE (RIGHT NOW)
​
Feeble hands hold tiny pills, so much
power in the convenient size of a grain of rice.
Distorted reflection opens wide, swallows the
chemicals to hide the mania, hide the
crazy for one more day
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
Jaecyn Boné
PHOTO BY SARA DOBBIE

A Trauma Left Unresolved, Please Send Affordable Therapy
Neurotransmitters are guns and mine go automatic (I can’t put them down). My Mom
brushing my fucking hair so hard there’s no breaking a baby’s broken bones, and
I don’t know if it gets better. Empty and bored, I can’t decide if I’m empty or bored
since no new words work in any damn ink, I just live towards death and learn how to look without feeling.
Prescriptions and poems, they pair well with PTSD, but mom I already mourn your death as my mother. So put the gun down.
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
KDK
PHOTO BY RAMI OBEID

ECZEMA
​
The bow tied
dandy with the Dictaphone
smiles and dictates
his diagnosis. Later,
I weep.
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
MICHAEL MCGILL
PHOTO BY MICHAEL MCGILL

BROKE WOMAN
​
Lower Spine
Deformation
My Mind
Infestation… cracked open
Full of bugs, and the like
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
ELISABETH HORAN
PHOTO BY SARA DOBBIE

HOMILY​
​
If the Devil
invented nicotine
I guess God
did nothing
to stop him
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
MAX THRAX
PHOTO BY SARA DOBBIE

BLOOD TEST​
​
The nurse leaches blood from collapsed veins.
I bleed into her cup-of-soup,
Iron starved
Snarling anorectic,
Swirling in her spoon
And slipping down her throat.
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
NAOISE GALE
PHOTO BY CHRIS G

COMICS AND BOOZE AND LOOKING DOWN
​
I don’t have a drinking problem
But I do know
A Sponsor
Who’d be mad at me for saying that
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
SCOTT MITCHEL MAY
PHOTO BY SARA DOBBIE

ON THE PSYCH WARD
​
the details are what
weigh most on the mind: window
slats, stairwell bars, cheerful locks
to keep your spirit from
flying straight off into the sun.
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
BRIAN JERROLD KOESTER

NOTHING REALLY BOTHERS ME​
​
I’m better than just ok
things are all just swell
When I take my flouxetine caps
twice daily
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
JAMES LILLEY

HOME​
​
If people were homes;
I have only lived in ruins.
Built from beehives whispered in my ears,
created by hornets’ nests burrowed in my hands
Yearningly, achingly wishing myself away,
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
SHIKSHA DHEDA
PHOTO BY SHIKSHA DHEDA

NEW DOSAGE
​
i plant the blue pill like a lone lifeboat
in the sea of the body i’m trying to escape
& wait for the waves to wash off the dead,
but signals send symptoms of another fire
as everything just burns, wet with promise—
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
KARA KNICKERBOCKER

YOU USED TO LOVE 'THE DARK KNIGHT'​
​
But Batman films haven't been the same for us
Ever since
Ben Affleck took over
& you nearly overdosed
on Klonopin
at the Justice League premiere
3
years
ago.
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
SHAWN BERMAN
PHOTO BY SARA DOBBIE

ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY AND ME​
​
When they seized my brain
I thought I heard God
but it was just the nurse
whispering
It’s okay now.
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
ASHLEY SAPP

WASTING​
​
five reduced-fat
crackers for lunch
and you salivate over
the withered meat
i have become
WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY
TIFFANY SHAW-DIAZ
PHOTO BY SARA DOBBIE
AUTHORS EXPOSED
Jaecyn Boné
Jaecyn Boné (they/them) is a disabled, queer, Asian-American writer and artist. After writing fiction for most of their life, they recently branched out to poetry, much to their surprise—they failed the poetry section of their fourth grade language arts class because they spent the whole time doodling. They live in Billings, Montana, USA with their spouse, 2 year old, infant, and possibly a ghost or two. Find them on Twitter @thefaerth.
SHIKSHA DHEDA
Shiksha Dheda uses poetry(mostly) to express her internal and external struggles and journeys, inclusive of her OCD and depression roller-coaster ventures. Mostly, however, she writes in the hopes that someday, someone will see her as she is: an incomplete poem. Her work has been featured (on/forthcoming) in Forward Poetry, Aerodrome journal, Poetry Potion, Visual Verse, The Kalahari Review, Brave Voices, Glitchwords, Neuro Logical and Resurrections Magazine. You can find her on Twitter at @ShikshaWrites
NAOISE GALE
Naoise Gale is an autistic, bipolar, socially anxious, ex-anorexic mess of a twenty-year-old who, when she isn’t sleeping from all the meds, loves baking wonky cakes and writing poetry about her experiences. She has been published by Cephalo Press, Rabid Oak and Anti Heroin Chic amongst others. She was also runner up in the Parkinson’s Art Poetry Competition 2020 and commended in the Poetry Space Competition 2020. You can find more of her work @Naoisegale13 on Twitter.
ELISABETH HORAN
Elisabeth Horan is a poet, mother, and small press publisher living in the wilds of Vermont. She is the author of numerous poetry chapbooks and collections, and the Editor-In-Chief of Animal Heart Press. Elisabeth is passionate about discovering new voices and mentoring emerging poets. She is also a fierce advocate for those impacted by trauma, mental illness and addiction. Follow her @ehoranpoet and ehoranpoet.net
KARA KNICKERBOCKER
Kara Knickerbocker is the author of the chapbooks The Shedding Before the Swell (dancing girl press, 2018) and Next to Everything that is Breakable (Finishing Line Press, 2017). Her work appears in or is forthcoming from Poet Lore, HOBART, The Dallas Review, Levee Magazine, among others. She is always escaping Pennsylvania to travel somewhere more punk rock. Find her at www.karaknickerbocker.com or on Twitter: @karaknick.
MICHAEL MCGILL
Michael McGill is a poet from Edinburgh, Scotland who has recently been published in Lunate, Write Now, Dream Journal, 433, Lucky Pierre, Stone of Madness Press, Dreams Walking, Milly Magazine, Rejection Letters, The Daily Drunk, FEED, The Cabinet of Heed and detritus. His overheard comments and photopoems regularly appear on Twitter @MMcGill09 and Instagram @michael7209.
ASHLEY SAPP
Ashley Sapp (she/her) resides in Columbia, South Carolina, with her sweet dog, Barkley. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of South Carolina in 2010, and her work has previously appeared in Indie Chick, Variant Lit, Emerge Literary Journal, Common Ground Review, and elsewhere. She is an avid bibliophile who surrounds herself with books and typewriters, but she also enjoys traveling, photography, and of course, a pun or two (or three). Ashley has written two poetry collections: Wild Becomes You and Silence Is A Ballad.
MAX THRAX
Max Thrax lives in Boston, MA. His stories and poetry have appeared in Bristol Noir, Punk Noir, Shotgun Honey, and the Daily Drunk. Find him online at www.maxthrax.com or on Twitter @Thraxmaximilian.