Unspecified

by Yoshira Marbel, Copyright © 2011

A collection of short poems

Unspecified

 

eBook

The eBook edition of Unspecified is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

You can get the eBook for FREE, using this link:

From the back cover:

Young South African poet Yoshira Marbel experiences such a complex and profound state of emotional turmoil in her everyday life that it leaves even the most experienced doctors at a loss for words; their official diagnosis for her was ‘Unspecified’. Yoshira has invested years of her life in the painful struggle to do what her doctors could not; both in finding a path through the troubles of her life and in expressing her depression, heartbreak, emptiness, anger, and suffering through poetry. ‘Unspecified’ is her first published collection, exploring themes which are familiar to most of us, to one degree or another, but amplified through the lens of Yoshira’s honesty, intensity, and natural lyricism.
 

Notes from the Author, Yoshira Marbel:

I started this collection during a very difficult time in my life. The guy I loved dearly had lied to me, I was experiencing extremely terrible side effects from all the medication I was taking including seizures and restless leg syndrome, my very conservative family had their own opinions on my condition which they voiced regularly, and death seemed the only escape. Poetry became a constructive way for me to express my emotions honestly and to cope with all these feelings of emptiness and loneliness I had built up inside me over all these years.

As an Indian in South Africa, I come from a very religious, traditional family. And my relationship with my family is an important aspect of my life. With depression my outlook on life, my patterns of thinking all began to change and this was not acceptable. So the struggles to be true to myself and satisfy them have been long and seemingly never ending.

I hope after reading my poetry you will feel a sense of comfort in knowing that you are not alone in your sadness or, alternatively, think I am just a selfish, crazy mental patient who needs intense psychiatric help. Either way, read it and enjoy.

-Yoshira Marbel

About the Author

Yoshira Marbel is 27 years old and lives in the vibrant coastal city of Durban, South Africa. The city’s various population provide a rich tapestry of inspiration and heartbreak which endlessly fuel her writing.

You can read her poetry site here, or follow her on Twitter.
 

Audiobook

The Audio version of Unspecified was recorded in 2012, read by Teel McClanahan III, and podcast on the Modern Evil Podcast in 24 parts. The following is a list of links to all episodes of Unspecified on the Modern Evil Podcast:

  • MEPod 267 – The dedication and introduction to the collection, as well as the first two poems: My Friend, and Left Behind
  • MEPod 270 – Two poems: The End, and Misunderstood
  • MEPod 273 – Three poems: Lost Soul, and two haikus
  • MEPod 276 – Two poems: Hollow Heart, False Face
  • MEPod 279 – Two poems: Euphoria, and a haiku
  • MEPod 282 – Two poems: Broken, and a haiku
  • MEPod 285 – Two poems: Desolate, and Jaded
  • MEPod 288 – Three poems: Promised Liberation, a haiku, and Drowning
  • MEPod 291 – Two poems: Heartbreak, and a haiku
  • MEPod 294 – Two poems: Going Home, and The Race
  • MEPod 297 – Three poems: Family, a haiku, and Cycle
  • MEPod 300 – Two poems: Shattered, and Released Pain
  • MEPod 303 – Two poems: Doll, and Living in Hell
  • MEPod 306 – Two poems: Whole Again, and Obsessed
  • MEPod 309 – Two poems: a haiku, and Cutting Death
  • MEPod 312 – Two poems: Rejection, and a haiku
  • MEPod 315 – Two poems: Dark Face, and Wide Open
  • MEPod 318 – Two poems: Broken Anger, and a haiku
  • MEPod 321 – Two poems: Escape, and Contempt
  • MEPod 324 – Three poems: Miss You, and two haikus
  • MEPod 327 – Two poems: a haiku, and Afterlife
  • MEPod 330 – Two poems: Fake, and Fire Anger
  • MEPod 333 – Three poems: Addicted, and two haikus
  • MEPod 336 – Two haikus
  • MEPod 339 – Two haikus, About the Author, and the Acknowledgements

 

Original Cover Art

'embers of you in a sea of me' - Original Cover Art for 'Unspecified'
’embers of you in a sea of me’ – Original Cover Art for Unspecified
acrylic on canvas
12×24″
SOLD

 
This painting was used as the starting point to design the cover of Unspecified.