I don’t believe in cosmic significance. Coincidence, sure, but I don’t believe our fortunes ebb and flow with the whims of the universe.

I believe that some things just happen. I was born with Muscular Dystrophy through chance, a 50/50 chance to be fair, given my mum is a carrier.

I’ve said this a hundred times over but here I go again (with Whitesnake in my head).

When you’re given a diagnosis of MD, they tell you how it manifests, of the fatigue, muscular degradation and the aches and pains that come with it.

They don’t tell you that you’ll struggle mentally, that you’ll tire of the fight at times, that you might even feel suicidal – because that’s a lot scarier than “you’ll end up in a wheelchair”.

There are two types of pain as far as I’m concerned, the emotional and the physical and they are like siblings. Sometimes they get along, sometimes they don’t and sometimes one likes to scream louder than the other.

The one thing I’ve found with both types is that they make me creative. In some cases it’s escapism, in others it’s using the blackness as ink to write something dark and powerful, and in some cases it opens your mind to strange and exciting ideas. See my poem about fancying Liz Truss (I really don’t).

It’s these periods that fuelled my poetry collection Joe Logue Writes Vol.1.

I know that seems like the least inspired title for a book, but sometimes the most difficult thing a writer can do is be straightforward.

It had a few working titles, such as Rhymes with Dystrophy, and Dysaster (yeah, I don’t know either) but I found simplicity here, and felt Vol.1, whilst being a little presumptuous, would inspire further volumes.

I was signed off from work for 4 weeks recently. My mobility has reduced again, as did my resilience for a little bit. I needed time out from life to come to terms with these changes and move forward into the new normal.

I was in physical and emotional pain throughout, which made me reflective and had me looking through poems from as far back as 10 years ago.

I’ve been through a lot in my time on this planet and I wanted to create a real purpose for these challenges, get my work out there and maybe inspire some others along the way.

Compiling these works was a form of therapy, allowing me to reflect on all I’ve faced and bringing home that I’ve felt like this before and always found the light in the end.

I embrace the dark and wait for the sun to rise. It always does, even if it takes a while.

I’m proud of myself for taking this step and proving again that there’s no greater purpose for pain than art.

If you’re curious as to the poems you’ll find in the collection, check out the videos below.

If you happen to read my work, please let me know what you think and let me know which poems speak to you most.

Contributions

On how working and contributing to society are not the same.

Body

On the importance of talking about mental health. TW for the topic of suicide. Recently featured on the Samaritans social media pages.

My Own Winter

On Depression