"can you hear me / whit-dae-ye-ma-call-it / ehm, thingmy / aye, ahm feelin terrible"

Here we present another of the shortlisted entries in this year's SMHAF Writing Awards - Still Hingin Oan by poet Brian Reid, who has been regularly shortlisted in the competition. Brian has also co-ordinated Connect to the Moment, a SMHAF event at Leverndale Hospital on Thursday 23 May.

can you hear me

whit-dae-ye-ma-call-it

ehm, thingmy

aye, ahm feelin terrible

naw, naw

really terrible

bad, doon

ye know, depressed

ehm ah feel

thingmy, suicidal

ken, ah cannae even

haud a fag

ah’m shakin that much

ur ye there

naw ah hivnae huddaa

fuckin thingmy, drink

no since last night when

whit-dae-ye-ma-call-it

ehm, Mary came roon

wae hur boay

and ah hit im

fur bein cheeky

tae his maw

she sent fur the polis

but it’s awright noo

ur ye listenin

thru in the thingmy

ah’ve goat a

whit-dae-ye-ma-call-it

ye know whit ah mean

whit have ah goat

a rope, tied up

in the kitchen fur

eh, eh

an they are tryin

tae tell me

that ah don’t need

tae see a doctur

you fuckin’jokin’ me

hullo

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.