Poems of a Troubled Soul

By Kiah Bradford

I write to let others know they are not alone. Everyone experiences life differently. Just because life is good doesn’t mean you are immune. Life was great for me, and maybe that is why I was broken.

These are my relief, my life, and my stories.

Note: The $4.99 papeback version does not include photography. The $5.99 version does.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kiah Bradford
• Release date: May 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533731197

Book preview

Introduction

This compilation has been many years in the making.

It all began in the spring semester in the fifth grade. As part of the curriculum, we had to learn simple poetry and some of the different types. This new and strange style of writing sparked a passion that would follow me through years, and become my one and only constant companion.

That very same semester, my teacher asked if I was feeling okay. I didn’t know at the time that I wasn’t acting like I had during the first part of the school year. So I said yeah, and went on with my day.

Less than four years later, I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and after consulting with my doctor and a therapist, it was determined that the condition had gone unnoticed for years. Looking back, I remembered that conversation with my teacher and realized that she noticed something was wrong long before anyone else had. Unbeknownst to anyone, she also prescribed the perfect medicine: poetry.

That spark inside me grew as time moved on. I would write a poem and love it to pieces, considering myself the next Jack Prelutsky or Robert Frost. Then I would look back at it and realize how bad it really was. But something inside me refused to let me edit. I could only bring myself to change a word here or there.

Poetry became my drug. When I was angry, depressed, or just feeling bored, I would write some random poem that usually didn’t make any sense. My portfolio grew, but my skills never really changed. Those lessons in fifth grade were the only exposure I had to technique and proper poetry devices (proper being devices such as iambic pentameter).

I kept