How free-flowing poetry helps me process emotion.

I’m no poet, but writing free-form poetry has become an invaluable tool in detangling, decompressing, and processing the messy.

The messy is anything that feels out of control, overwhelming, confusing, and threatening.

Short-form poetry has provided a pressure-free structure to catch the swirl of emotions spiraling inside me. These emotions, I struggle to name, feel, and understand, but line-by-line poems give me a space to spill abstract feelings onto a blank page.

And nothing seems as scary when it’s brought into the light.

In a chapter of ongoing grief, these words worked to depict the painful sensation, helping me make sense of it, stay with it, and feel through it.

Catch the wave,

Here it comes.

The surging pressure system.

Up, up, and up, reaching its full height.

Down, down, and down, deescalate and settle.

A beginning, middle, and end.

And a repeat.

And a repeat.

And a repeat.

Waves come and go.

Surge and recede.

This is natural.

This is normal.

You’re right on track.

I can't control when, and how, and for how long,

But I swallow less salt water when I float surrendered on my back.

Breathing into my belly,

I’m kept afloat on top of the tide.

Limbs star-fished on the surface of the water,

It’s the only way the waters will not drown me.

Emotion does its best work when given the space and time to run its course.

Pain is not weakness.

Pain is quite normal.

Pain is not forever.

I will survive.

Contrary to what I know, the safest place is in the heart of my own feeling.

The current of emotions carry my body to lighter days.

I will not deny their delivery system anymore.

Translating lingering emotions and racing thoughts into a poem has been one of the quickest shortcuts to relief for me. If you’re interested in giving it a go, here’s a quick overview on how to get started on how to integrate free-form poetry into your life.