I really enjoy the things you write. I can tell it comes from a lot of pain and reality. They are beautifully sad and I hope they help you heal in the end.

There’s a lot of questions asked here, the inevitable speculation before the healing. Sometimes there’s never any answers. Sometimes answers and hindsight cause more problems.

I hope your poetry is helping you, MA. Sometimes suffering turns out our best poetry, and this is wonderful. Some beautiful wordplay:

‘Unbraid my bones’
‘Baby bird bandaged’
‘Heal rusty sockets’

Your word choice is immaculate, but the bigger picture is you. I hope you’re well.

Just three words
Front page write!

Glad to see it was nominated. Hugs

I'm so glad to see this on the front page, MA.

A very happy Christmas to you.

Ben

Congrats on your win

Judge's Comment:

The world is a dark place, and Poet on the Piano shares a piece of their own darkness in this write about finding the light after a suicide attempt that led to their containment and subsequent release from an institution. Perfect segues between realism and metaphor create a beautifully sculpted poem about looking for a way to fix a person who has been broken for a lifetime. After multiple reads, this truly touched me, and as dark as it got there is still a glimmer of hope shining in through the darkness.

-Stephen