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

  • Strength

    In a sea of brown, a single leaf shines  yellow and red. 

  • A Joy Manifesto

    Alpacas, I discovered recently, chew in a very wide and exaggerated way. They really articulate their chewing. Chomp. I love that my dog eats like an alpaca.

  • Status Migrainosus

    A tunnel closing to a pinprick of light  with me trapped inside. 

  • A white woman with short, light brown hair smiles at the camera. She wears blue-rimmed glasses and a pink polo shirt.

    My Spine’s Story

    Hey, this is me talking to you. I am important: I hold your head and protect your spinal cord.  

  • A white woman with short, white hair sits on a black couch with two small dogs in her lap. She wears a tank top with a leaf pattern and turquoise pants.

    Elastic Woman Stretched Too Far

    For poet Diane Funston, aging means she can’t always catch loved ones from falling the way she used to, but maybe that’s ok.

  • the anti-nightmares

    1. No one is chasing me, so I don’t have to run.

  • A Curious Boy Grew Up A Cautionary Man #86 Once Bitten

    How do you spell relief? The Curious Boy spells it, C O N V I C T E D. The Cautionary Man doesn’t know how to spell it.

  • A white woman with short, light brown hair smiles at the camera. She wears blue-rimmed glasses and a pink polo shirt.

    Oh To Wash Off This Pain

    Takes awhile to get into the shower. I slip in cautiously, use the grab bar, pull the bath bench in behind me.

  • A white woman with short, white hair sits on a black couch with two small dogs in her lap. She wears a tank top with a leaf pattern and turquoise pants.

    Origins

    “Poetry found me/aching for a voice.”

  • A white nonbinary person with short, brown hair wearing a gray sweater. They smile with their mouth closed and have a nose piercing.

    To Mend Infinity

    In To Mend Infinity, poet Kate Matesic shares their experience of losing abilities as their chronic illness changes and progresses.