American poet Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq shares a poem from her book, ‘Acres of Shadow’ as a commemoration of how far she has come and in recognition of how deeply those struggling with mental illness wish and toil for relief.
If you're battling depression and thoughts of suicide, you are not alone. American poet Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq shares in your struggles, having plunged into a deep and desolate depression after the murder of her beloved younger brother. Aisha Tariqa's battle took her to the brink of suicide, until she turned to poetry as a therapeutic release that played an integral role in her recovery.
Written over the course of two years, "Acres of Shadow" contains a gorgeous collection of poems Aisha wants to share for the benefit of those who are battling mental health issues, and those providing support.
Her book takes you on the journey of recovery with reflections of the past sprinkled with some arbitrary musings meant to bring you a smile.
Aisha Tariqa recalls the 12 months she spent going downhill after the murder of her beloved baby brother before she sought help and began writing 'Acres of Shadow,' a cathartic body of work that saved her again and again. She says that after a long polar night of utter darkness the light finally began to creep over the horizon. Here is her re-released poem:
❝To those who wish to kill themselves:
I understand
Sometimes, I want to kill myself
The hard part is knowing that not only is birth painful, but so is death
Though we hardly get to choose either of those
The only thing we have control over is the amount of joy we allow into our lives
The pain we cannot stop
But the joy
The joy is our weapon against defeat
Defeat is both difficult and easy
So is life both difficult and easy
The art is in choosing one over the other each and every time
Because at least with living you get to choose to live more
With defeat you lose everything
Your family, your identity, the way you like to smile at light jokes in the current setting of the meeting of both the nature and nurture of your physical self
You do not get to take these things with you when you pass on
With these words, I hope you choose life❞
This poem is meant to help you find comfort in a kindred spirit so you can feel understood and uncover your own very meaningful reasons to choose life.
Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq strives to make contemporary poetry accessible to all audiences and is working to raise awareness for the soothing, therapeutic role art through poetry can play in helping you, and anyone else battling mental illness, feel connected and less alone.
You can purchase both of Aisha Tariqa's books at https://bit.ly/AishaTariqaBooks
Aisha Tariqa's poem is her record and her reasoning for persisting. Even as she experienced the ultimate lows of Bipolar I disorder and the equally distressing highs, even as she sought the welcome feeling of relief from existence spent within the hellfire of her mind while sorting through medication, something held her here on this plane: determination -- determination to succeed.
You see, despite the quick relief succumbing would have allowed, her love of life persisted throughout. She forced herself to keep in mind daily that the sun always, always rises in the end, and she wants to convey these powerful yet fundamental reminders to you so that you too can find solace.
You are invited to follow Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AishaTariqa
on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/aishatariqa
and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AishaTariqa
It's Aisha Tariqa's hope her poem will anchor you, and the millions of Americans who suffer from chronic mental illness today, in feelings of hope and strength that can act as a relief from the urge to surrender.
She shares the message that if you're struggling, she encourages you to push those urges aside in pursuit of what brings you joy, while also taking important steps to clinically treat your mental health struggles.
When you continue to find solace in the things that bring you joy and happiness the prospect of light ultimately and inevitably peeks out from behind the clouds, Aisha Tariqa promises you that.
She also wants you to know it's worth it; the effort to hold tight to the precipice with a single exhausted arm despite the desire for rest; the enterprise of pressing the boulder over the hill in hopes that it will soon roll over on its own -- it is all worth it.
The joy you choose today can allow for the bliss of a lifetime. She hopes that in her shared view of your valiant battle you always choose to persevere.
The insidiousness that's part of the development of mental illness is that it can come along in ways that are unnoticeable to you until you're really in the thick of it.
If you've suffered a traumatic event, such as the loss of a loved one, this can lead to the development of bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses, something Aisha Tariqa wants to bring awareness to with her art. She acknowledges that everyone is different, but as humans, we all struggle.
Aisha Tariqa's body of work echoes Aristotle’s theory about art that says the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
With the re-release of her poem from the book 'Acres of Shadow' Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq unveils the insidious role depression plays in masquerading the beauty in life, so that if the joy you used to feel in your day to day life is beginning to wane, that you'll pay attention to this flag, and send up flares of your own.
You can learn more about Aisha at https://www.aishatariqa.com/landing-page
