Dear Readers,

Welcome to Turtle Way Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1 – our first issue of 2013, and our fourth issue since inception! Here you will find an eclectic mixed of personal stories, perspectives, poetry, and creative art from around the world. As always, I want to express my sincere gratitude to those who submitted their creative works in the spirit of inspiring and supporting persons who have mental illnesses.

This issue includes the talents of six poets, along with visual artist, Samantha Seto. This issue’s poems touch on various forms of mental illness including depression, bipolar and our Special Interest Section topic of OCD.

Meditations, photo-quotes, and Mental Silliness jokes are provided by me, but we welcome those which you write and/or send in as well. Please see the submission guidelines for details.

We are also introducing a new section called “Did U Know?”, which features interesting (or not so interesting, depending on what you find interesting) facts about mental illness. To contribute to next issue’s “Did U Know?” section see the submission guidelines.

Submissions for the next issue are open now, so send them in as soon as you can!

But wait! Before you dive in, let’s review a few housekeeping items:

• WARNING: Please read the “trigger” disclaimer here.
• COMMENTS ARE NOW ENABLED: For the first time, I have enabled comments. Please be respectful in your feedback. All comments will be moderated to protect the contributors, who have put forth their most sensitive and revealing works for us to read, view, and enjoy. As always, you may send your comments and questions either directly to the author via their contact information, or to me via the contact form here. Your comments may be included in future issues’ “Letters to the Editor” section unless you specify otherwise.
• SUBMISSIONS: If you would like your work to be considered for upcoming issues, please review our submission guidelines here. Without you, there is no we, and only we can get through life – together, not alone.

Love and peace,

Volume 3 Issue 1 – Enter Here

the trees have turned

black, and the sun

has disappeared in

the distance beneath

the earth line, leaving

the sky a palette of grays

sheltering the pine trees

with pitch-tar shadows.

It is here in this black

and sky gray the mind

turns psycho

tosses norms and pathos

into a ground cellar of hell,

tosses words out through the teeth.

“Don’t smile or act funny,

try to be cute with me;

how can I help you today

out of your depression?”

I feel jubilant, I feel over the moon

with euphoric gaiety.

Michael Lee Johnson is a poet, freelance writer, photographer and small business owner from Itasca, Illinois. His new poetry chapbook with pictures, titled From Which Place the Morning Rises, and his new photo version of The Lost American: from Exile to Freedom are available here.  Also his new chapbook, Challenge of Night and Day, and Chicago Poems, is available here.

Photo-quoto designed by Wil.

~ Girl in window stock photo courtesy of that-damn-eskimo.

~ Quote by the Golden Phoenix Girl.

ardent column, spring moon.
Golden ocean, big eyes.

I searched for what I thought;
thought, like dawn in languorous dreams,
what desire paints on teenage days.
I sang, climbed
was light one day
dragged into the fire.

Like the gust of wind
that undoes shadows
I fell into the black,
the insatiable world.

I have been.

Sergio Ortiz is a retired educator, poet, painter, and photographer. He has a B.A. in English literature, and a M.A. in philosophy. Flutter Press released his debut chapbook, At the Tail End of Dusk, in October of 2009. Ronin Press released his second chapbook: topography of a desire, in May of 2010. Avantacular Press released his first photographic chapbook: The Sugarcane Harvest, May 2010. He is a three-time nominee for the 2010 and 2011 Sundress Best of the Web Anthology and a 2010 Pushcart nominee.

Samantha Seto studies creative writing and was diagnosed with mental illness at an early age. She has been published in various anthologies including Ceremony, The Screech Owl, Nostrovia Poetry, Soul Fountain, and Black Magnolias Journal.

Samantha Seto studies creative writing and was diagnosed with mental illness at an early age. She has been published in various anthologies including Ceremony, The Screech Owl, Nostrovia Poetry, Soul Fountain, and Black Magnolias Journal.

warm
like
the
tears
of
a
candle

that
drip
into
the
candle
holder

till
the
candle
no
longer
melts

but
the
tears
are
still
warm.

Danny P. Barbare resides in Greenville, SC. His poetry has appeared recently in Calico Tiger, Askew, Apiary, The Round, and Calvary Cross. He uses his poetry as a sort of therapy, trying to always stay positive. He has three books available through Amazon.com: Nature Poems, Family, and Being a Janitor. He can be reached by email at barbaredaniel@yahoo.com.

Donal Mahoney’s poetry and fiction can be found in various print and web publications in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com.

A tapping on the door, a rapping on the wall
Ghosts always like this hour just before dawn
A bird screeches and I wake again to the stinging day
And shufflestep towards home from a thousand worlds away

Ron Ray is a self-taught writer and visual artist living in Rockford, IL, who has lived with major depression for most of his fifty-five years. His work has been published in several magazines, and he has self-published three volumes of poetry through Lulu Press. Reach Ron online at http://ronraylit.wordpress.com and http://bark.deviantart.com.

Shaking with eyes
that was a double barreled knot
before her flowing hair
became a shawl
that muffled her broken,
mis shaped words.

She used to fly into my arms
with her slight kisses
somersaulting all over my cheeks
and left me mistaking
full on depression
for her teary nature.

I still see her face now
dropping coins like pills
into her coat
which in the evening shadows
gave a charcoal outline
instead of a proper relationship.

I still see her face now
searching all over Market Street
outside the mass hysteria
of Starbucks and Debenhams
before a cry of pleasure
is followed by a baby’s scream.

And I’m still not sure
which it was round
as she carried on back
where she came from
staggering back up the street.

Andy N is a 40-year-old writer, performer and sometimes experimental musician from the North West end of England. His poetry book, Return to Kemptown, was published through N Press in 2010, and his second book, – a split book with Jeff Dawson (aka Jeffarama) – A Means to an End, has been recently printed. Andy is also vocalist and keyboardist in the spoken word collective ‘A Means to an End’ (http://ameanstoanend.yolasite.com/). He blogs at http://andyncreativecv.blogspot.com/ and his official website is http://www.andyn.org.uk.

Laughter also triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and produces a general sense of well-being. So, let’s take a moment to laugh, to smile, if only just for a while. ~ Wil

Patient: Doctor, doctor, I keep thinking I am a set of curtains!
Doctor: Pull yourself together, man!

Emoticons for Psychiatric Med Management (source)

:- ) stable. cont prozac 40mg. f/u 3 mos.
:- )) reduce prozac to 20mg. f/u 1mo.
:- )))) d/c prozac. add lithium 300 tid. check TSH, creatinine, lithium level. f/u 1wk.
:- D add depakote. check valproic acid level, Liver Panel, CBC. f/u 1wk.
:- | stable. cont prozac 40 mg. f/u 1mo.
:- ( increase prozac to 60mg. f/u 2wk.
:’- ( add wellbutrin SR 150mg. f/u 1wk.
%- } weekly tox screen. refer to AA/NA.
:- &@? add haldol 2mg bid.
|- 0 d/c ambien.
:- # d/c elavil. use hard candies.
;- P d/c haldol. add clozapine. AIMS exam. vitamin E 800 iu bid.
:- )~ reduce haldol. add cogentin to reduce sialorrhea.
;- ) establish boundaries. do not schedule at end of day.
;- x see with chaperone only.

Patient:  Doctor, doctor, I keep thinking I’m invisible.
Doctor:  Who said that?!

When the conflict of others does not directly involve me, am I able to stay out of it? At times, it is difficult to let the adults in my life fight their own battles. Also, it is harder to distance myself emotionally than physically.

Physically, I can go for a walk or a ride, sit outside, visit a neighbor, put on head phones and listen to relaxing music, or take a break from my surroundings in some way.

Emotionally, however, my thoughts obsess over the conflict, causing anxiety, depression and fear to overwhelm me.

If I am able to expel these thoughts from my mind in a constructive way, like talking about them with a trusted person who is a neutral party, the negative feelings leave me. Then I am able to detach with love from those waging war amongst themselves.

I have the choice to try a different action; to walk a different path. Today, I can choose to know peace.

1. Anxiety disorders – generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias
2. Mood disorders – depression, mania, and bipolar disorder
3. Psychotic disorders – such as schizophrenia
4. Eating disorders – anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder
5. Addiction disorders – such as compulsive gambling and alcohol and drug abuse
6. Personality disorders – such as borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder

* Artwork in this post is public domain.

Turtle Way™

We are currently accepting submissions in the following areas for our spring 2013 issue:

• poetry
• prose
• short-story fiction and non-fiction
• essays, opinion pieces
• meditations, inspirations
• photography
• artwork
• jokes, cartoons, humor (PG or G ratings only)
• facts about mental illness (with link to source)

DEADLINE for submissions is March 31, 2013.

Click here for details.

Send comments to the editor via the contact form below.