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Poetry
Home›Poetry›Forcing the Words

Forcing the Words

By Erynn Crittenden
September 15, 2025
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A notebook and crumpled papers on a light background
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Is it poetry if the words are coerced?

Can we turn a stressful situation-
Full of anger and fear,
Insecurity and grief-
Into an inspirational tale
Of hope and renewal
While we’re still under its influence?

Or are they mere placeholders
For our true feelings
That come tumbling out
In their own time
And rock the foundations
Of everything we are?

Only the poet knows.

 


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TagsFree Verse PoetryMental Health
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Erynn Crittenden

Erynn Crittenden has written poetry since she could hold a pen. This love prompted her to earn a BA in Creative Writing, where she learned how to experiment with syllables and styles. Since then, Erynn has self-published three poetry collections (By the Bones, Transfiguration, and Into the Western Sky) through Amazon. She also writes and publishes plenty of individual poems on her website, and her work has appeared in the Talon Literary Magazine, the Beautiful Poetry anthology by Silent Sparks Press, the #AmWriting anthology by the Wayne Foundation, and Life Blood: A Collection of Vampire Tales by Gary Hill. Erynn is also the creator and host of the Present Poetry Podcast, where she reads and celebrates a different poet every week. Find it and the rest of her works by visiting her website at LadyErynn.com.

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Latest Comments

  • Eugi
    on
    July 21, 2026
    What a lovely and lyrical piece, Ivor. Your words would make a great song.

    Uluru, Kakadu, Kathmandu, and Xanadu

  • LC Ahl (Lucy)
    on
    May 4, 2026
    Great story Scarlett! Excellent delivery!

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  • LC Ahl (Lucy)
    on
    May 4, 2026
    I loved this series. You have a gift for world building!

    Lover of the Queen: Epilogue

  • Ivor R Steven
    on
    April 14, 2026
    Thank you very much for your kind words, Derrick

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  • Ivor Steven
    on
    April 14, 2026
    Thank you so much for visiting my poem here at CHW, Beth

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