Welcome to the Sombre Days
Welcome to the Sombre Days has been officially released on Amazon and Kindle, both as paperback and e-book. This book is a collection of eighty-eight personal poems. As some of you know, I have battled depression for a couple of years in my adolescence, and poetry was my way of dealing with it therapeutically. Since 2017, I have been writing poems that reflect my life, specifically focusing on four sections.
1. Puppet Strings
In the first section, Puppet Strings, I talk about my childhood experiences. Writing this book, I have realised at how we all have unique and individual experiences that you will only understand by reading and connecting with me on a deeper level. As a child, I was not expressive or vocal about my feelings; I was not aware myself. Instead, they came out through manipulative and quiet manners. It is right what the say, the quiet ones are the most dangerous!
2. Weclome to the Sombre Days
Then, the second section is called Welcome to the Sombre Days, and it starts off with myself coming to terms with my sexuality. This coincided with the onset of my depression, and so, the poems in this chapter take a twisted and dark turn. It is my favourite part of the book as it is so candid, honest and raw, which is not something I was expecting to produce. In our world, there is stigma associated with mental health, and this leads to a lack of discussion or expression when it comes to mental illnesses. I find that poetry is an acceptable way to express darker feelings, and this chapter definitely shows that.
3. Silver Linings
I then move onto the Silver Linings, and I find a lot of positive things amongst my struggles. I had suddenly got better with nothing in my world changing except my attitude and motivation. Life was not only falling into place, but it felt like it was rewarding me for the suffering of those two whole depressed years. Comparatively, every breath I took was a blessing. Once having been through depression, I could appreciate all those little details that make our life so wonderful.
4. Finding the Warrior Within
The book ends with Finding the Warrior Within. Realistically, life is not just rainbows and butterflies. Even though I had a newfound appreciation for life, I still face daily challenges that occur. Becoming my own warrior is important, as we all tend to fall, and I know that I have to be the one to pick myself up. It is okay to feel down, and to fall and get hurt, it is normal. Yet, this time around, every time I fall, I do my best to get up and brush my bruises and walk away with my head held high. I cannot minimise it and say that it is not a struggle, yet, I believe that I am much more powerful than I ever was.
A Steemit Publication
As I have announced before, you do not need to purchase the book, as I will be posting each poem on the Steem Blockchain as well. One of the main reasons for this is that I believe that there is a powerful message in my story, both towards LGBT+ individuals who struggle with their identity, as well towards those who suffer from mental health issues. If putting out my collection for free can have an impact towards even just one single individual where they feel that they can relate, I would be honoured. I find that there is not enough quality content when it comes to representation of these issues in bookstores. Sure, there are books with some LGBT+ representation, but most of them are not relatable to the reader. My story is personal, it is true and I hope that readers will be able to connect and understand my feelings as I go through my experiences.
If you want to purchase the book, you can go ahead and do so on Amazon or Kindle. Otherwise, I will be sharing one poem each day, and so far I have posted seven poems. This means, that I have around 80 days to go for the full collection to be on Steemit. At the end, I would ask those of you who have read each poem to leave a review, if possible, as this would definitely be appreciated. Here are the posts that are currently on steemit:
Chapter 1: Puppet Strings
#1 - Dancing Queen
#2 - Fruitcake
#3 - The Best of Both Worlds
#4 - Applause
#5 - Hush!
#6 - Inside Me (1)
#7 - Ink-chanted (1)