KNEE BRACE PRESS

A place for stories about chronic illness, disability, mental health, and neurodivergence.

Poetry

Submit your poem to Knee Brace Press! We welcome new voices and veteran poets alike.

Guidelines

All submissions must relate to chronic illness, disability, mental health and/or neurodivergence in some way. What that means is pretty much up to you. If you think your piece covers any of these topics, send it out way!

Our poems

  • A white woman with short hair wears round glasses and a black sweater. She gazes at the camera. The photo is in black and white.

    Spoons

    “I woke up/faced with my limitations/A body yesterday/so tired it physically was done.” In her third poem for Knee Brace Press, Amba Elieff writes about spoon theory, fatigue, and learning to understand her body’s limitations.

  • A white person with dark hair and brown eyes gazes at the camera. She wears a dark gray T-shirt. The background is red brick.

    Fishbowl

    Fishbowl is a poem about feeling alone, even when the speaker is surrounded by people.

  • A person with long, brown hair, bangs, and black rimmed glasses hides half their face behind a black and brown cat with blue eyes.

    Untitled #1

    “And yet sometimes, I feel cold./There’s a deep void in my chest/No matter how much I try, it remains bare.” In this poem, AM Rodriguez details what it’s like to struggle with depression and grief, even when the rest of the world appears full of light.

  • A white woman with short, brown hair in braids smiles at the camera with her mouth closed. She wears circular black glasses and an orange sweatshirt. The background is white.

    I haven’t been sleeping well

    “I remember what I told myself I’d eat for breakfast the day before/And then remember it’s still sitting right where I left it/Next to my unfinished coffee and my empty day planner.” Poet Emily Brandt details what it’s like to be in the middle of a depressive episode, when sleep alludes even the most exhausted…

  • A white woman with short hair wears round glasses and a black sweater. She gazes at the camera. The photo is in black and white.

    Vertigo

    In her poem Vertigo, author and poet Amba Elieff captures the dizzying horror that is having your world flipped upside-down mid step and what it means to push through it like nothing happened.

  • A Black person with white-rimmed glasses smiles widely with their eyes closed. They are holding their book, DEAR PHILOMENA by Mugabi Byenkya, and are surrounded by a circle of light.

    Seizure #774

    If a loved one infringed on one of your most private moments for their own curiosity, how would you respond? That’s what author and poet Mugabi Byenkya writes about in their poem, Seizure #774, which takes place during a seizure.

  • A person with long, brown hair, bangs, and black rimmed glasses hides half their face behind a black and brown cat with blue eyes.

    Ghosts

    “I think about ghosts and love./I think about haunted houses and empty spaces.” So begins AM Rodriguez’s ethereal poem, Ghosts, about the grief that haunts us, the longing we can’t escape, and a morbid curiosity the speaker can’t shake.

  • A white person with yellow-rimmed glasses and long, blonde hair. Their shirt reads, "THE FUTURE IS NONBINARY."

    free.

    Grief is a funny thing. It can be heart wrenching, devastating, or even performative. Jess Bareslow’s poem, free., details how hyperaware they were of how they needed to act after their father’s death.

  • A white woman with short hair wears round glasses and a black sweater. She gazes at the camera. The photo is in black and white.

    Spoon Tattoo

    Researchers at the University of Massachusetts found that nearly ninety-six percent of chronic medical conditions can be considered “invisible illnesses.” Poet Amba Elieff details her own experiences with chronic illness via one small tattoo.

  • Notes From A 10 a.m. Appointment

    In which our protagonist enters the Zoom room for a psych evaluation, eager and nervous to uncover the next phase of her healing journey. Poet and author Clara Olivo details what happens when nothing goes as planned.