Poetry Book Release: Welcome to the Sombre Days
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)
Good luck! How can I buy this book? Amazon is not available in where I live.
Thank you. I have only published the book on Amazon. Amazon.com tends to serve international customers (digitally), and all others ones (e.g. Amazon.co.uk) should deliver to many countries - but I'm not sure about that. Unfortunately, that is the only way I could have published the paperback.
If you find that none of these options available, you could follow me on steemit and read the poems one by one.
Congratulations! That's a great achievement...good luck :)
Thank you! Indeed, it's a great achievement :D
🎊 congrats man!! This is a big one for me, for I too have the need to publish. I am really glad for you. Now I know know why you've been awfully quiet.
Love the beard too. I have a shoe brush growing, hopefully get to the sideburns some day. 😂 Never mind me...
Thank you! Yeah, apart from the book, I have been trying to write a lot of poetry (including contests, and work on my studying and thesis! I'll try to recover from the stress soon.
If you intend to publish, go for it! Don't mind if your writing isn't good the first time. A lot of the poems I had to edit and re-edit, but it is important to write the substance of what you want to say, even if it's not as you intend to on the first try.
As for the beard, thanks! I actually was not trying to grow my hair or beard, but with exams and poetry and all that, I got lazy and did not take care of how I look haha. I need to trim it down soon. I suppose I have been blessed with beard; although I tend to hate it. Routine care is not my forte haha
I hear a lot of people being free once they write a book about their lives and circumstances. I am glad to hear it has helped you overcome depression and has allowed you to find new meaning in your life. Congratulations on the release of your book :)
Yeah, I suppose that it could be freeing. Writing about it definitely helps. A lot of the times I do put bits and pieces of my life into poetry, especially metaphorically, so in a way, it's always there. Yet, to make it all into one collection and putting it out there as this is my experience and what made me who I am, it's somewhat overwhelming too!
Yes I could imagine it being overwhelming at the same time.
Congratulations, and good luck! Always nice seeing a project come to fruition :)
Thank you! It's been quite a big project and I am glad that I have managed to publish it within my time-frame (okay, maybe a couple months after I originally planned). I truly appreciate all your support at the Isle :)
Congratulations on the book release. Hope it becomes a best seller worldwide
I wish so too, but realistically, I know it won't happen. Instead, I hope it gets to trend on steemit and maybe a curie vote too!
Congratulations!!!!!
I know how exciting and yet anticlimactic release day is. Have fun with it!
Thank you! Indeed, it is somewhat anticlimactic, but i had no chance to pause, so it is still exciting and busy!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by poetrybyjeremy from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows. Please find us at the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.
If you would like to delegate to the Minnow Support Project you can do so by clicking on the following links: 50SP, 100SP, 250SP, 500SP, 1000SP, 5000SP.
Be sure to leave at least 50SP undelegated on your account.