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#20 We Are All On This Platform Together

‘We are all still afraid of the dark sometimes. Why wouldn’t we be?’

We Are All On This Platform Together, by Fiona Rattray, is one of over thirty poems featured this year in Passing Time, an exhibition of poetry on railway station platforms across Renfrewshire as part of the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.

Sunshine

Rain

Hail

Shine

Cloudy days can appear whatever the weather

Still you smile and smile and smile until you can smile no more

The door shuts, the kids go to bed, the light goes off and other clouds appear.

Worry, stress, regret, anger and fear

We are all still afraid of the dark sometimes

Why wouldn’t we be?

There is nothing more sure in life than the ringing of the morning alarm

All you can do is rise

Rise in every way you can

Who knows what may come today

Who knows how you may feel

But do your best just to be

Your feelings are important

You are important

You are enough

You are

We are.

70 Stories is an online project curated by the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival to mark the 70th anniversary of the Mental Health Foundation. The project connects stories from our Writing Competition, stories from SMHAF participants, and more in a compelling portrait of mental health in 2019.

Keep an eye on mhfestival.com/70stories for new entries in the series. If you are connected in some way to SMHAF or the Mental Health Foundation and would like to contribute a piece of writing to this project, please contact aeaton-lewis@mentalhealth.org.uk.