We’re honoured to share all the poems sent to us as part of the Healing Words 2019 poetry competition. We received 621 poems altogether – from across the UK and around the world. We had entries from people of all walks of life and ages.
Do read the poems and be inspired. You can see the winning poems by clicking on each icon. If you want to search for a particular poem that’s not one of the winners, you can open each of the links below, then press Ctrl+F and entering the title or a line from the poem.
Winning poems
The judges chose poems that moved them personally.
Overall winner
“Sleepless 19′” by Anna Allan
Winner: most descriptive of mental health, addictions and body dysmorphia
“These four walls & me!” by Lainie Reay
Winner: most poignantly reflective of society today
“A funny thing happened on the way to the foodbank” by Thomas Dale
Category winner: “Darkest days”
“An ode to my bathroom” by Katherine Whelan
Category winner: “Good days and bad days”
“Tunnel vision” by Rita Lewis
Category winner: “Being well”
“PTSD and me” by Gary Hitching
Category winner: “Illustrated poems”
“Upside down” by Manic Pianic
Category winner: “Spoken word”
“Drama queen” by Shelley Ford
Runner up: “Darkest days”
“Happy Christmas” by Kate Spurrier
Runner up: “Good days and bad days”
“Brave” by Amber Cornish
Runner up: “Being well”
“The light in your darkness” by Antonio Moccia
Runner up: “Illustrated poems”
“The water works” by Lucy Haughey
Runner up: “Spoken word”
“Shutdown” by Iffat Rahman
All the submissions
