Rey Winter is a free verse poet and mental health advocate from Saskatchewan, Canada. They are a 4th-year psychology student and aspiring art therapist. They take great comfort in writing poetry surrounding their own personal struggles with mental health and hope that by sharing their poetry with the world, they may help others feel a little bit less alone. Rey's poetry anthology Words from the Other Side is available on https://www.amazon.ca/Words-Other-Side-Crazy-Poetry/dp/1922328766 and can be followed on Twitter at @rey_awinter
What does poetry mean to you?
Poetry means so much to me! To me, poetry means freedom, it means expression and it means feelings. It means connection to emotions in a way that we might not traditionally look at the way we feel about things. It means being picked up and taken away by the words that are vested in your soul. Poetry is powerful to me.
What inspires your poetry?
My own experiences are primarily what my poetry focuses on! I write my poems based on strong emotions that I am feeling about a given circumstance that I might find myself in. If I experience something the evokes a strong emotion in me, I tend to write a poem about it before doing much else.
Which are most important to you: (1) joy, (2) peace, (3) patience, (4) kindness, (5) self-control, (6) faithfulness, (7) gentleness, (8) love, or (9) goodness? If you can, explain why.
The most important things to me are patience and kindness. I feel that patience is important because of how integral it is to all of our interactions. It takes great deals of patience to form meaningful relationships with the people and situations we find ourselves in. Sometimes this patience needs to be given to others, but oftentimes it must be given to ourselves. Kindness, I think is also very important because I strongly believe that one never knows what someone else is going through, and what impact our words and actions will have on them. As such, I think it is important to be kind, always.
What sort of things are you looking forward to improving this year?
I'm looking forward to improving my patience with and acceptance of myself, and working on my own relationships and how I view the world.
What is one big dream you have?
I would love to compete at a large-scale poetry slam!
"All the Things I Left Unsaid"
You mean the world to me I miss you I don't want to imagine my life without you in it You make me want to be a better person I couldn't have done it without you. You're stronger than you know I'm proud of you You're so brave. This is amazing Don't surrender your power. You deserved better. I need your help We're in this together You ARE my family I forgive you I understand I see you Sing with me You are my best friend I will always have love for you You still matter to me. Of all the things I've left unsaid, these are the words I wish I had the courage to say Because it's easy to walk away And it's easy to joke around And it's easy to stay quiet And it's easy to change the subject... But it's ridiculously easy to lose the people you love And I fear that all these unspoken words Might cost me everything. And though they might never be heard by those who need to hear them, I won't let them suffocate me forever. Thank you for hearing all these words I thought I'd never say
Beautifully written❤️