A place for stories about chronic illness, disability, mental health, and neurodivergence.
Rita Maria Martinez’s poetry raises awareness about chronic daily headache (CDH) and migraine. Her collection — The Jane and Bertha in Me (Kelsay Books) — was a finalist for the Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. Rita’s work is featured in CLMP’s 2023 Disability Pride Reading List; and in The Best American Poetry Blog, Ploughshares, Pleiades, and Tupelo Quarterly.
It’s about mouth breathers, gum chewers, pen clickers, foot tappers
“Pain sears my chest, radiates from an incision fish-netted by seventeen stitches.”
“It’s my first time. I sink into cushy recliner. A monitor tracks blood pressure. The therapist adheres a finger sensor, a final electrode as I shut my eyes.”