Category Archives: Creative Corner

Poems, Art, thoughts about unpaid carers

Creativity as the Expression – Poem 41: Finding a Voice Through Poetry

How do we explain our caring experiences when the words used in meetings, assessments and care plans do not quite capture what we want to say?

My latest PCREF poetry video, “Creativity as the Expression”, reflects on this question. It is Poem 41 from my upcoming poetry book, Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken, which explores the experiences of ethnic minority unpaid mental health carers.

When the words are difficult to find

As an unpaid carer, there can be times when you know what you have witnessed and understand what worries you, yet struggle to explain it in the language expected by services.

You might leave a meeting thinking about everything you wanted to say. The emotional weight of caring, family history and the everyday changes you notice do not always fit neatly into an assessment or a short conversation.

This poem begins with that struggle:

I struggle to speak the clinical language
I stumble on that path
but over the years I found a new way to express myself
Using that creativity as expression

For me, poetry offers space to find those words and express them in my own way.

Writing to cope, express and reveal

Writing gives me time to reflect on experiences that can be difficult to speak about. It allows feelings, memories and questions to take shape without the pressure of having to explain everything at once.

In the poem, I describe poetry as an art that helps me stay whole. That matters because carers also need opportunities to express who we are and how caring affects us.

Our creativity can reveal parts of our lives that others may never see during a meeting.

Reclaiming our own stories

Carers are often described through records, professional conversations and decisions made within services. Having the opportunity to tell our own stories matters.

“Creativity as the Expression” explores that wish to make the caring role visible and reclaim the narrative. Poetry allows us to speak from our own standpoint, using words that carry meaning for us.

It can also open a conversation. A poem may help someone pause, ask a question or recognise an experience they had not previously understood.

A connection to PCREF

My PCREF poetry work draws attention to the voices of ethnic minority unpaid mental health carers. PCREF stands for the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework.

Through this poem, I want to encourage reflection on whose voices are heard and which forms of expression are valued. Confidence with professional language should not determine how seriously a carer’s experience is taken.

The poem imagines creativity as a bridge: a way to communicate experiences that might otherwise be difficult to explain or record. For that bridge to work, there must also be a willingness to listen.

One voice can become many

The final verse moves from personal expression towards community:

My creativity will reveal that experience
My lived experience
I will share it back to others
Back to the community, where one voice can become many

Sharing a poem can help another carer recognise something from their own life. It can create a moment of connection and give others encouragement to share their experiences too.

I hope this video offers that invitation.

Watch the poem below, and please like, share and subscribe to A Caring Mind for more poetry and unpaid carer voices.

Watch “Creativity as the Expression” on YouTube

Please also keep an eye out for my upcoming poetry book, Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken.

Has poetry, art, music or another creative activity helped you express your caring experience? You are welcome to share your thoughts in the comments.

Finding our voices through poetry with Imago carers

On Tuesday 13 October 2026, I facilitated a carers’ poetry session at Ignition Brewery in Lewisham, supported by Imago. We explored our surroundings, shared thoughts about poetry, and used drawings to express feelings through words. What mattered to me was giving carers space to create and hear one another.

I began by sharing how writing became part of my own caring journey. As a former carer for my mother, who lived with schizophrenia, and an ongoing carer for my two non-verbal autistic brothers, I know how difficult it can be to explain what caring involves. Writing books helped me raise awareness, while poetry gave me another way to communicate experiences and emotions in a few lines.

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When a Picture Speaks: Ealing Carers Art and Poetry, September 2026

By Matthew McKenzie – Ealing Carers Poetry Group facilitator

At our September Ealing Carers Poetry Group, we tried something different: bringing drawing and poetry together. I invited carers to sketch something simple, notice the words and feelings it brought to mind, and then write as though the picture could speak.

There was no expectation to be an artist or an experienced poet. A few lines on paper were enough. What mattered was giving carers room to express something important to them.

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2nd Voices & Verses – PCREF Poetry Event

By Matthew McKenzie – Cygnet PCREF Carer Lead & Carer Ambassador

Cygnet PCREF Carer Lead & Carer Ambassador

On 4 August 2026, unpaid carers, professionals and people with lived experience came together at Cygnet Churchill for the second Voices & Verses Carers Poetry Event. The purpose of the afternoon was not simply to read poetry, but to create a safe space where carers could express experiences that are often overlooked within mental health services.

The event formed part of Cygnet’s ongoing commitment to the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) by exploring how creativity, culture and storytelling can strengthen co-production and improve relationships between carers and services.

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Today I Prayed: A PCREF Spoken Word Poem

By Matthew McKenzie – Chair of ethnic mental health carer forum.

For my latest spoken word video, “Today I Prayed,” I present a piece from my PCREF poetry collection that I am working on, Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken.

Grounded in the spirit of the Patient Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF), this poem centers on the often hidden realities faced by unpaid Black mental health carers.

The poem explores spirituality not just as a source of private comfort and endurance, but as a solitary lifeline when formal systems fail and the heavy emotional weight of duty takes its toll.

I think watching this video is an invitation to witness the quiet strength of minority carers, plus raise awareness of systemic gaps in our care frameworks.

I hope the poem ensures that these vital carer voices are finally seen, heard, and respected.

Behind Closed Doors: Facing Community Stigma as an Unpaid Mental Health Carer

By Matthew McKenzie – Ethnic Mental Health Carer and Poet

invisible challenge for ethnic minority mental health carers. “Poem 15: The friends I have lost,” a powerful spoken-word piece from Matthew McKenzie’s poetry book that is in development Unpaid, Unseen and Yet Unbroken, sheds a crucial light on this hidden struggle.

It captures the profound loneliness of an unpaid carer who watches friendships fade away as community members close their ears and elders demand privacy over open support. By highlighting the intersection of familial duty, mental illness, and societal rejection, this moving presentation exposes the heavy emotional toll born by those who care for loved ones behind closed doors.

This poem serves as a stark reminder of why initiatives like the Patient Carer Race Equality Framework (PCREF) are so urgently needed in healthcare and community support networks today.

Watch the full poetry video to immerse yourself in this essential conversation, and help us raise awareness for the vital support and recognition that ethnic minority mental health carers truly deserve.

By dismantling the barriers of stigma and addressing the specific inequalities faced by ethnic minority families, PCREF aims to ensure that no carer is left to navigate this challenging journey in absolute isolation.

Voices & Verses PCREF Carer event

By Matthew McKenzie, Cygnet PCREF Carer Lead

On Tuesday 28th April 2026, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm, we came together at Cygnet Churchill in Lambeth for what was described as a carers poetry event, but in truth, it became something much deeper.

It became a space where carers could speak, reflect, and be heard.

I hosted the session not just as a PCREF Carer Lead, but as someone with lived experience. That shaped everything the tone, the structure, and the intention behind every part of the agenda.

I made it clear: this was a safe, inclusive, and optional space. No pressure to perform. No expectation to share. Just an invitation.

We began with a simple check-in:
“What’s one word you’re arriving with?”

Opening Readings: Creating a Shared Starting Point

I started with a couple of my own poems, drawn from my work around carers, stigma, and racial inequality in mental health.

As shown above, one piece explored the question of who is listened to and who is overlooked within systems. Another focused on stigma and shame, particularly how cultural expectations and institutional barriers can compound the experience of caring.

These weren’t just readings—they were a way of opening the room.
An invitation for others to see themselves reflected.

Featured Performer: Karen Ibrahim

We then heard from Karen Ibrahim, whose poetry captured something deeply familiar to many carers the quiet, often invisible emotional labour of caring.

Her piece reflected the silence between carer and loved one, the fear of saying the wrong thing, and the reality of sitting with someone in distress without always knowing how to help. It spoke to that fragile balance carers hold every day.

Karen also shared a series of haiku-style reflections, drawn from carer experiences—short, powerful snapshots of emotion, nature, and coping. They reminded us that even the smallest expressions can carry deep meaning.

Guided Writing Exercise #1: Bringing PCREF to Life

We then moved into the first guided writing exercise.

I paired participants and asked them to:

  • Match PCREF-related concepts (like equity, advocacy, inclusion, resilience) to their meanings
  • Use those words to create a short poem or reflection

It was about translating PCREF from policy into lived language.

The results were powerful. Carers wrote about 4 poems altogether, below were the themes, which will be included in the new PCREF poetry book I am working on.

  • Feeling unseen and unheard
  • Wanting their voice recognised
  • Breaking down barriers in care
  • Finding strength through community

One group asked:
“Is my voice not loud enough to be heard?”

I felt that line stayed with me, because it captures exactly what PCREF is trying to address.

Performer & Open Mic (Round 1)

We then moved into our first round of performances, where carers shared both prepared and newly written work.

I felt Brenda brought something unique, blending cultural storytelling and poetry rooted in Jamaican heritage. She reflected on traditional knowledge, community wisdom, and the use of language and folklore as a way of preserving identity and healing. Her use of dialect and storytelling highlighted how culture shapes how we express and understand care.

Next was Annette Davis shared a piece centred on the identity of being a carer, capturing the emotional strain, lack of recognition, and inner strength that comes with the role. Her poem questioned what it means to be labelled a “carer” while navigating burnout, resilience, and the need for self-care.

Next up was Faith Smith and Nadine sharing a powerful reflection on system inequality, exploring the daily pressures of navigating services, the lack of accessible support, and the feeling of being caught in processes that don’t always respond to real-life needs.

Each piece added another layer to the conversation, with different perspectives, but shared truths.

Break & Connection

We paused for a short break and refreshments provided by the kind and wonderful staff at cygnet, but for the poetry event the conversations didn’t stop.

Carers continued to connect. Share stories. and reflected on what they had heard.

This is something I always emphasise, community doesn’t just happen in structured sessions. It happens in those in-between moments.

Creative Exercise session #2: Exploring PCREF Language

After the break, I introduced a second exercise, which was more interactive and reflective.

Participants worked with a word-search style challenge, identifying key PCREF-related terms such as:

  • Voice
  • Inclusion
  • Equity
  • Community
  • Trust
  • Advocacy
  • Listening
  • Stereotyping

Rather than writing full poems, we focused on discussion:
Which word stands out and why?

The responses were honest and grounded:

  • “Listening builds trust.”
  • “Community is where we belong.”
  • “Inclusion is what drives change.”
  • “Stereotyping still shapes how we’re treated.”

This is where PCREF becomes real, when people recognise themselves within it.

Performer & Open Mic (Round 2)

We continued with a second round of performances.

Carers shared reflections shaped by:

  • Cultural identity
  • Personal caring journeys
  • The emotional impact of systems
  • Hope, resilience, and change

Then ended with cultural carer songs by Brenda, see the video of part of the PCREF poetry session below.

In the end PCREF is about improving outcomes for racialised communities—but it cannot succeed if it remains purely clinical.

We:

  • Translated PCREF into lived experience
  • Used creativity to engage carers meaningfully
  • Created a culturally responsive space
  • Positioned carers as equal voices not passive participants

If you are caring for someone using Cygnet services, contact Family&Friends@cygnethealth.co.uk to join our Voices & Verses poetry group

“Listen to Me” – A Carer’s Plea Turned into Song

Caring for someone with a mental illness is an emotional, often isolating experience. Unpaid carers—whether they are family members, friends, or loved ones—carry immense responsibility, yet their voices can feel unheard, especially within the healthcare system.

One of my poem’s “On Being Heard” taken from my book The Poetry Book of Mental Health Caring, captures this struggle with raw honesty.

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On Caring – Carer awareness poem by Matthew McKenzie

Welcome back to another blog post by Carer activist, poet and author Matthew McKenzie. As you can guess by most of my post off this site, I raise awareness of those providing unpaid care to someone.

Even though I have written a few books containing poems about the caring role. There will be times I will just come out with the odd poem due to spark of creativitiy. Here is my latest poem to raise awareness of caring for someone living with long term illness. I hope you like it, but if you dont then I hope it provides plenty of discussion.

I am always interested in what people think of my new poem. I am sure to place these poems in another book at a later date. Feel free to comment either in the video or my YouTube channel.

The Power of Poetry to reach carers

Welcome back.

Here is a new blog post from carer activist Matthew McKenzie. I write about the challenges, roles and journeys of those caring for someone. Usually the experience of caring for someone with mental health challenges or someone living with cancer.

However, I find that writing is not enough when trying to connect with others. I find poetry a great way of sharing experiences, creativity and understanding.

There can be challenges of using creativity to explain the experiences of caring. It all becomes worth while in the performance, even if things do not go as expected.

Each person finds the poem will mean something different to them. Just as no carer’s journey is the same, this can be included as to how poems can mean something different.

In order to promote the power of poetry, I have made a short video of my ideas, which you can see below.

In life, whatever we experience will eventually pass and things move so fast that we are left wondering what it was all about. If we can leave something behind, express our experiences, share our thoughts of our existance then we can for a brief moment connect with others.

Thanks for reading.