Short Stay

Short Stay is a poetry collection

Using rhyme and prose

With a mental illness theme

That shall inform and expose

Representing the truly fragmented

The melancholic and sad

Each poem is composed by a woman

Predominantly mad.

Step inside the locked doors of a psychiatric hospital, where reality feels fragile and every person has a story to tell.

Short Stay is named for exactly what it is- a brief visit into the world of mental illness, seen through the eyes of someone who has been there.

These poems introduce you to a cast of voices: the restless, the hopeful, the broken, and the ones still holding on.

Some pieces are haunting, some unexpectedly tender, and all are honest.

Written by a former patient, this collection shares moments of loneliness under fluorescent lights, strange friendships over lukewarm tea, and the stubborn flicker of hope that refuses to die.

Short Stay does not romanticize pain. It tells the truth- sometimes hard, sometimes beautiful, always human.

Trigger warning: contains themes of mental illness, self-harm, sexual assault, and suicide. Read with care, and take what you need from these pages.

A short stay in a hospital can change you. This book might, too.