Writing As a Release from Migraine

The transcript of this podcast is below. If you prefer to listen to it, you can easily do so from the MigraineCast Web site.

Hello and welcome to MigraineCast.

One of the most difficult problems presented by Migraines and other headache disorders is finding ways to help us copy

e with them. They're isolating and frustrating, along with many other descriptive terms we could come up with.. We come up with coping methods that vary widely.

There's one activity that I often see Migraineurs engage in as a way to deal with their feelings -- writing. Writing can often be done even in the midst of a Migraine. It doesn't require much movement, and it can be distracting. Some people write just for themselves. Others write to share with others -- to share their feelings, offer encouragement, vent about life with Migraines, or to help people who don't have Migraines or other headache disorders understand what it's like to live with them. Migraine and headache sufferers are writing blogs, diaries, short stories, and poetry.

All of this is why, nine years ago, I started the annual Putting Our Heads Together Poetry Contest. The contest is open to those who have Migraines and headaches, as well as people who know and care about people who do. We call for entries in March and April, then announce the winners near the end of April, in time for National Poetry Month.

Let me read a couple of last year's poems to you. This one is Perpetually Now, by MaxJerz...

Perpetually now
This Pain -
It wipes out my past, my future
All but the searing now.

 

I close my eyes against the ruthless sun
But that Beast inside my head
He does not relent
What is this Pain?

 

It burns across my temple
It sears behind my eyes
Boring into my skull
Throbbing as I stand up
Nauseated
I bite my tongue as the bile rises in my throat
(Not again)
But never
I never vomit
Maybe if I did
(Just once)
The Migraine would quit.

 

Every morning, before my first thought is formed
It is there
The Pain
The Migraine
That dreaded Beast
Before thought
Before consciousness, is the Beast, the Pain
And I lay there, eyes closed
Defeated
What would it be like to wake up
Without
The ropes of this Pain?

 

I'm bound to this perpetual now,
This twilight of no past and no future
Living hyper-aware of the present
The Pain

 

Yet

 

I store away
In the dusty corner of my soul
A small glimmer of hope for that day
That I will be free of
This dreaded Beast, and can
Watch the sunset.

Here's one I write, called Phantom Tango...

the beat is faint, the dance slow
    so slow I’m not sure we’re dancing
my partner is but a shadow
    waiting to become more than a phantom

 

the disco ball that so blithely
    cast shards of light upon my eyes
forecast my partner’s arrival
    yet I had dared hope he would not follow

 

but the beat strengthens
    and the dance intensifies
the steps we’ve danced before
    are too familiar and unmitigatedly unwelcome

 

we turn and dip, this direction then that
    an intimate tango
with each dip, my stomach rebels
    the dips so deep my head ricochets off the floor

 

he shows no pity
    but dances the dance his sadistic way
and when I am beyond spent, he departs
    without so much as a bow at the end

 

Migraine is a merciless partner
    a relentless partner
a murderess I would gladly become
    if only I could slay him

This year's poetry contest is going on now. We'll be accepting entries until April 17 and announcing the winners on April 17. Even if you've never written a poem before, I hope you'll enter the contest. In previous years, we've had winning poems from people who were writing their very first poem. To enter, just go to www.mymigraineconnection.com. At the top of the page, you'll see a box with poetry contest links, including one for the rules and entry form.