Frozen Rivers: A Collection of Poems about Mental Health and Nature Poetry About Winter - Paperback

by Justin Farley (Author)

"What story is blotted out,
never to be read because of this foul muck
thicker, darker than the dreary veil cast
by Poe's cawing omen,
more blinding than a moonless night?"

- from "Melancholy" (Frozen Rivers)

Through the frost and the silence, these winter poems explore the intersection of nature's beauty and brutality with mental health struggles. A book written to make the depressed, anxious, and lost feel heard in their suffering.

Sometimes to know that you're not struggling alone is more comforting than words of positivity and encouragement. From the author of Nature's Bounty, A Voice in the Wilderness, and Thorns of Love comes a therapeutic, personal collection of nature poems about the beauty and bleakness of the winter season, as well as mental health poetry about living with mental illness / struggling during hard times in life.These poems are real and raw. The first book in a series -- one for each season of the year.

Frozen River is a poetry collection that centers around both nature and mental health. The book is split into two sections: "Frozen Grounds" and "Frozen Hearts" which alternate every other poem.

"Frozen Grounds" is a selection of nature poetry about the season of winter. Outdoors poems about snow, dreary days, lack of light, dealing with the cold in the wilderness, the natural beauty of nature's silence, ecology, animals, etc.

"Frozen Hearts" is a selection of poetry about mental health and the poet's own struggle with mental illness. Poems about anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, loneliness, heartbreak, hope, and healing.

While there are some hopeful, uplifting poems, this is a dark poetry book about dark things. It was written with the intention of sharing the poet's own pain so that others can relate and know they are not alone in their struggle.

This is the first book of a tetralogy-four books, each centering on a season as well as a complementary mental health issue or celebration. Winter is generally seen in a negative light: cold, dark, and depressing; hence, why most of these poems are related to some of the negative aspects of nature and the challenges of mental illness.

The next book in the collection--Blossoms of Hope--centers around spring and will not only be about the beauty of the weather change and the growth of new life in nature but also about hope and encouragement for change after going through difficult times in life.