I turned to poetry when prose seemed too slow and laborious a way for my impatient, unskilled teenage self to deal with. I was slowly heading for habitual self-harm, and writing poetry saved me! I discovered a way of expressing myself with no need to share it and be judged by others. I could get any difficult and/or destructive feelings out of my head, where they might fester, onto the page and put it aside and forget about it if I wished. I feel that it protected my mental health; it always did, and it continues to do so. I could not, however, have predicted the wider unintended consequences. I became better at written expression in all aspects of my professional and personal life. I believe I am also more verbally articulate as a result too, and it has allowed me to focus and reflect on many things beyond the practice of written and verbal expression. It has magnified my enjoyment of nature and of life generally.