What could be better for the month containing ‘Twosday’ (22|2|22) than two incredibly talented poetry collections, split and spilled across The Rains Report?

Not one, not three, but two, my lord! I am thankful to know both of these wildly visceral humans, and in some cases, have seen or heard their work before the world had the pleasure. I cannot do their skill and voice justice, but I have tried.

Without further ado, meet C. R. Taylor, (Heartie alert! More links here!) who brings us the five star stunner, Darkness & Love, and the rabid rage of Matt Seeley, in Unheard Wonderings Of A Neglected Mind.

DARKNESS & LOVE by C. R. Taylor | Poetry Anthology

It’s a talent to reach people through a page. Taylor has it.

Reviewing this is akin to staring at a mirror. Raw unchecked emotion that leaves you aching or soaring, depending where you are in your own battles, or what you see in his. It’s all there.

Hidden in these pages are pieces such as ‘My Pit’, so dark, that you’ll feel your chest clamp down. Others, like ‘If I Could’ drift gently, fleeting glimpses of hopes and dreams, making you whisper just in case you disturb them.

He gives everything to these words. Turning the struggles of mental health and relationships into an easily accessible ‘it’s not just me’ moment for the reader, which all walks of life need to hear.

It’s five stars of courage from me, since every time I open this book, another piece of him falls out.

*Disclaimer: Yesssss I’m aware I’m in it. You should also reach back when the void screams.

UNHEARD WONDERINGS OF A NEGLECTED MIND by Matt Seeley

The only way to describe this collection is beautiful agony.

Seeley is open and blunt about his life struggles, without apology, owning them openly, as we all should. He writes as though he is the pain—it’s part of him in many of these pieces—integral to his voice. He bargains, screams, gambles, hates, maybe even holds close the war inside, as you simply turn pages.

Impossible to pick favourites as I have far too many bookmarked, but standouts include ‘Countless Worlds’, for resonating with the writer in me, ‘Lost All Focus’ because it may as well BE me, and ‘Same Old’ simply due to it’s brilliant pacing.

I could go on, and I would if you asked me, but I’ll just tell you to read it, and explore the confused pathways so many of us take through our mental health.