The Pain Sings a Song

As a teen, poet Shalanda Shaw was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The difficulties of her newly realized illness were devastating, but with the help of family, therapy, and medications, she found a way to survive—although it was never simple. She quickly learned to channel her emotional agony into the written word.

The Pain Sings a Song is a seven-part poetic narrative of her journey. In parts one, two and three, Shalanda accepts her new status as someone with mental illness and says goodb...