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Jami Lyne Kellett is an American author, poet, photographer and mental health advocate. As a suicide survivor her purpose has become helping others through suicide prevention. In addition to contributing to mental health through her writing, she also writes of nature and the beauty that surrounds her, “I have found peace within the trees and the setting of the sun.”
Jami lives in South Florida with her husband, children and fur babies. She enjoys writing poetry, game night with her family and playing with her beloved Saint Bernard, Teddy.
Have a seat and watch the sunrise with her sometime with her Good Morning tweet on Twitter.
When did you first start writing poetry?
I found the Writing Community on Twitter approximately three years ago. My hope was to write a legal thriller. I had the story and was beginning to write my novel at that time. While scrolling on my Twitter page, I became familiar with poetry from the many writing prompts. I began writing poems as a practice exercise. Eventually, I became hooked and found my passion.
How would you define your style of writing?
I used to define the style of my writing as factual. Being in the legal field for most of my adult life, my writing had only been in a legal setting, concise and fact-based.
I now define my writing as nature based, descriptive, with personal experience tones.
I find poetry to be deeply personal as we often share our deepest thoughts and even our darkest moments. What has your experience been in sharing your journey with your readers?
I have shared the majority of my deepest, darkest moments through my poetry or through posts about Suicide Prevention. My purpose is to help others choose life. I purposely “put myself out there”. Being vulnerable can be difficult for me. I do it to show others that my life wasn’t what it is now. I’ve overcome many obstacles and I’m not the same person I used to be. All that is due to my healing and really, nothing else.
The outpouring of support I receive is truly overwhelming.
I struggle to share my poetry with others. Perhaps it’s the fear of criticism or wanting to keep others at arm’s length. Have you ever written a poem that was so deeply personal that you felt as if you couldn’t share it with the world?
Many times, as I can write sad, dark and deep. I try to be very careful of what I put out to the public. I want to write about my struggles so that others can see that their sad, dark and deep can find the light. There’s hope at the end of the tunnel. We often, can’t see it at the time, but it is there. Then, I don’t want to come across is “sad” all the time to a reader or a follower on Twitter. To find balance between the two is one of my biggest obstacles as a writer.
Nature plays an important role in your poetry. You speak of birds, flowers, the sun, the moon, and water. Is it fair to say the natural world has played a part in your healing process?
Yes, absolutely-nature, poetry & love healed me. If you think about our place in this world, we belong with the birds, the flowers & the setting of the sun. Each one of us is as important as high tide is to the moon. We have a space here, a place here on Earth. Knowing that, has healed me greatly. The world is a beautiful place, I try to show that through my photography & through my poetry.
There’s so much more to life than our struggles. Many times, we can’t see outside ourselves, when we are in the struggle. Our problems feel too large to overcome. Mountains are tall, the sky so blue, the world outside ourselves is so much more vast than the struggles we face.
I found that healing, peace and happiness, doesn’t come from anyone else, it comes from deep within myself. I can watch a sunrise, or watch the leaves sway with the wind- there’s a peacefulness that cannot be touched by another human. That peace, is mine and mine alone. Or, the peaceful silence of watching a sunrise-there’s a beauty there that cannot be replicated by anything I’ve personally found.
There is a reference to faith in your poetry, especially in poems such as “Seraphim.” What does faith mean to you, and how has it helped you through the difficult times?
I’ve been a Christian basically my entire life. I’ve read the Bible, looked to God for answers and been to church to find answers. I would be driving and look at churches wondering if God was there, did he reside in that church? I felt like God had turned his back on me. Honestly, I thought that everyone turned their back on me, that they left me there to fend for myself when I was unable to.
I was wrong. My mind was telling me I was alone, but I wasn’t. God was one prayer away. My husband was right there. I felt so abandoned. I had an entire household of people that loved me. I couldn’t see it until I began getting better, until I got help for my depression and anxiety.
I know I can’t make it through this life without God. I feel lost without God’s presence in my life. I have to use my words to let others know I need help. I have to ask God for help, to help me with my problems. Miraculously, he will show me a beautiful sky or show me the answer, maybe not in my time, but His time – but that sky, that sunrise is my hope that tomorrow will be better.
I have a few: “Petals” (page 7) and “We All Have a Story” (found on Page 17)
Petals
For every thorn
she mourns
-a petal
For every stain
that remains
-a petal
petal for pain
petal for pain
petal for pain
She wears a crown
of endurance
&
her name is Hope.
(Page 7, Blossoms of Hope)
We All Have a Story
We all have a story
when love struck deep
when grief made us weak
when time made us stronger
when we wish we had longer
We all have a story
we live it day by day
page by page
beginning to end
alpha to omega, Amen.
(page 17, Blossoms of Hope)
It is clear that you are on a journey, which makes me excited for your next book of poetry. What do you see as your next endeavor, poetry or otherwise?
The next chapter will be a poetry book with my own photographs and coordinating words. I’m not sure of a title yet, but I took a breather between my first and second book. I feel like I need a breather between books two and three.
The next chapter in my life, is being a grandmother. A very exciting journey for me. I’m becoming an empty nester with comes with its own set of challenges as a mother. I’m learning where my place is as a mother of young adults and where I fit in.
Who are the poets who inspire you, and why?
*Robert Frost: Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” being my two favorites of his. Tears will often streak my cheeks after reading his words a million times …. “And Miles to Go Before I Sleep” and he reiterates it, by saying it again, “And Miles to Go Before I Sleep.”
Don’t we all have miles to go before we sleep? I find his words relevant to the struggles of today. What a beautiful poem he writes about the snow falling and how he wants desperately just to stay there, but his life is not complete – he has more to do, more to learn, more to love & he has responsibilities.
If you happen to be a poetry lover, you can actually listen to him read his poems YouTube. Unlike Shakespeare, he’s a poet of our time – he’s had written word broadcasted and it’s easily found on the Internet.
* Then, there’s the beloved William Shakespeare. What an amazing feat to still read the words from someone born in the late 1500’s. He was romantic, comical, had a whimsy about him & I wish I had just an ounce of his intellect.
What advice do you have for other indie poets or even someone who might want to start writing poetry?
My only advice is to practice writing and read in the genre you would wish to write. You may also like to try the many Writing Community prompts, there are many to choose from in the genres of your choice or liking (they are free). The hosts of these prompts are writers/poets themselves. It also “gets you out there” with the other poets and writers. Many readers love to read the poetry/writings also. You begin to obtain a community with like-minded people. They read your poetry, you contribute by reading theirs, re-tweeting and liking their posts.
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