Awards

Arts KC Inspiration Award Winner 2009

Charlotte Street Foundation Exhibiting Artist 2009, 2010

Creative Capital Professional Development Alumnus

Donations for respectful, revealing, responsible, revved-up, revolutionaries

My Recent Twitter Feed

I am the Oppressed and the Oppressor

Oppression in America goes both ways for most of us

This is a poem that’s timely for what’s going on in the world right now with the Occupy movement.  I’m really proud of how the video came out since I am learning more about editing videos and changing around the camera angle so the video . . . → Read More: I am the Oppressed and the Oppressor

The Disability Industrial Complex

The Disability Industrial Complex

Disclaimer: If your psych meds are working for you please please keep taking them as long as you want. If you want to get off them do it extremely slowly and carefully and consult your physician. I am Corinna West and I approve this message.

Thank you, dear Pfizer, for . . . → Read More: The Disability Industrial Complex

“Be Careful” at the Jazz Poetry Jams

This poem is for all the people who see me leaving on a bicycle and say, “Be Careful.”

I thought of this poem coming home from my first solo bicycle tour to Wichita. The second day back I’d been riding with a tailwind all day and didn’t realize that you can get hot in a . . . → Read More: “Be Careful” at the Jazz Poetry Jams

The Chocolate Fairy Poem

My best friend, Ken Braiterman, told me that my videos should have more close ups, and interesting video scenery in the background. I was riding around all day last Friday working on developing the Chocolate Fairy project, talking to people on the streets. I rode down to the Scout, Kansas City’s overlook onto the city. . . . → Read More: The Chocolate Fairy Poem

The Moment I First Saw Beauty in Graffiti

I’ve been trying to write this poem for about five years and finally here it is. It’s about a place in Shoal Creek Greenway in Kansas City, MO where I used to go mountain biking and walk my dog. It was right after my really bad hospitalization for losing hope in my dreams then my . . . → Read More: The Moment I First Saw Beauty in Graffiti

Love Makes My Tears Stronger than My Fears

When I was in grad school for Pharmaceutical Chemistry, I was unsure about what I should be doing for a living. One year on New Years Day I was wandering around at Maple Woods Conservation Area praying about it and I felt like God told me to kill myself. This was before I was ever . . . → Read More: Love Makes My Tears Stronger than My Fears

Stigma is Discrimination and Prejudice

This isn’t actually an new poem – it’s from my first poetry book, Live Free or Drive. My friend David Oaks from Mind Freedom, International points out that stigma is discrimination and prejudice. He says, “I guess you already know a lot of us like to slip in word “discrimination” whenever we bring up stigma, . . . → Read More: Stigma is Discrimination and Prejudice

Stealth Camping

When I come back from long bicycle adventures, sometimes I want to still sleep outside or not want to get re-integrated into my job or fitting in. Sometimes homeless people who are placed in long term housing settings also have a hard time fitting in. They do things like sleep with their windows open in . . . → Read More: Stealth Camping

The Grassroots Manifesto

The Grassroots Manifesto

How much of this world can I reach out and touch as I grow? How much of this world do I give thanks and owe for breaking my daily bread? How much of what’s left will sustain all the rest that’s why I keep it fresh Read both sides of the . . . → Read More: The Grassroots Manifesto

Faces for Al

My friend and peer support client died after succumbing to his depression. I miss him a lot. I wrote a poem for Al to put on his digital poem collage for his funeral. Here’s his memorial website.

Faces for Al

This is Al: He looked good in a suit, and he cared deeply about the . . . → Read More: Faces for Al