My second book, Darkness And Light, was published on February 11, 2022. With more than 300 copies sold so far, I think it has done reasonably well. Did you know that the average nonfiction book sells roughly 250 copies in the first year? Given that I am average at marketing my work, I am quite content with book sales. Anyway, going by Amazon reviews and Instagram interactions, here are 8 most loved mental health poems from Darkness And Light:
1. Survival Instinct
Stop waiting around for someone
To swoop in and save you.
Nobody is coming.
You have to step up
And save yourself.
Yes, it’s okay not to be okay.
But not when you are accepting it
As the only state you’ll ever be in.
That’s just fatalistic nihilism.
There will always be ups and downs
With or without a mental disorder.
But don’t you give in.
Put up a damn good fight.
2. Self-Respect
Treat yourself poorly
And the world won’t just mirror you,
It will treat you worse.
That’s just the way it is.
It’s not simple
Yet not impossible
To be kind to yourself
And accept who you are.
3. Change yourself
I have spent too much time
Waiting for the world to change.
I know now it never will,
I can only change myself.
4. Happiness
Happiness is just an emotion,
Not a permanent state of mind.
Why do humans seek
To capture it forever?
The wise know it cannot last
No matter who you are or what you do.
5. Social Experiments
Social experiments put humanity to test
And often question its very existence.
We follow the herd consciously
Knowing it is in the wrong.
In a crowd of bystanders,
Few dare to stand alone.
6. Horror Films
I sit alone in the dark
Watching horror unfold
On the screen close to my face.
The beat of my heart gets louder,
My legs are ready to run far, far away.
What a relief to feel such terror!
It’s nice to focus on something
Other than my own problems for a change.
7. Deal With Your Issues
I have been doing it for years
But this ends now.
I promise to stop binge-watching
To drown the turmoil within.
No more will I ignore my existential angst
By defaulting to ‘Autoplay’ or ‘Watch Next’.
It’s time for me to face the darkness
Before it takes over completely.
8. Birthday Blues
They say your birthday is a day to celebrate
But for me, it is a day of dread.
It makes me think of all the time I let slip by,
The dreams that are still far away.
So excuse me if I’m not in the mood to party
And your company isn’t helping.
You see, it’s hard to feel glad to be alive
When you keep ruminating about the past
Or worrying about the future
While masking your sorrow with a smile.
Oh let’s face it – I cannot explain all the why’s.
Just know I don’t choose to feel this way.
Which of these mental health poems spoke to you the most? Let me know in the Amazon reviews!
Click here to buy your own copy of Darkness And Light on Amazon.
