Publications

   Podcast -https://passionateworldtalkradio.com/breaking-mental-health-stigmas-with-tammy-smith/

No Official Song this Summer

At My First OA Meeting

Or Just After

Pregnant Pauses
Rooted

Dear Therapist

Government Shutdown

Barriers Worth Breaking

Only the Most Massive Stars Become Black Holes at the End of Their Lives


Mother May I

Why Mental Health Recovery is Hard

Waiting is the Preamble for Everything Work Wanting

Compassion + Action

Rewriting the Script

Discharge Plan

misfitmagazine.net: Tammy Smith
Koinophobia
My Rejection Slips
Marked Safe From


https://thedewdrop.org/isolation-shorts/#tammy-smith
Tammy Smith
New Jersey
04/02/2020

On the Psychiatric Frontlines of the Coronavirus Pandemic
I am a social worker in a psychiatric hospital fighting a mostly invisible, yet starkly virulent side of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discharge planning for homeless, mentally ill individuals, challenging during the best of times, now feels futile. There is no shelter in place for those without shelter. I am intimately acquainted with the topography of suffering- the dearth of resources and compassion. I instinctively scour this harsh landscape, an array of gaping holes with sharp edges, seeking closure. I trained to deal with adversity, to dive into the devil’s playground. Now I hold back, suppressing the bravest part of my reckless ambition and cautiously take my temperature before immersing into murky waters. How can I rescue those at risk for drowning if I am afraid to swim? According to the news, plenty of folks are now wearing scuba masks for added protection.

https://thefringe999.substack.com/p/poetry-forum

The Modern Art of Analyzing Freedom
by Tammy Smith

Since heaven isn’t real, why symbolize freedom as a sunrise? Color evokes strong emotions, guiding mortality’s gaze past the vanishing point. White rays of light bouncing off objects reflect what we see. Projections flood our senses. Why represent freedom as a golden bird with wings? Stop painting glowing pictures about free will as if you can gloss over inequality. Fury divides natural resources, punctuating primitive places with bold question marks. Rage reddens the landscape. Pollutes our water. Quit pretending to care about saving sick trees by hugging them. Freedom isn’t translucent. Should I exist in the brooding shadow of your memory? Nail down the moment body leaves breath. Living without you feels surreal. Purple light explodes across the sky, splitting fact from fable. To love deeply is to tremble in its shaky withdrawal, admitting anxiety is the dizziness of freedom. No one cares why a broken-winged bird feels less grounded.

I created this poem for Rattle’s May 2024 Ekphrastic Challenge based on “Bird Ascending the Fire” by Barbara Hageman Sarvis.

https://www.arielchart.com/2020/04/virtual-therapeutic-connections-during.html?m=1