Welcome to "Poems For Strangers," where ADHD meets artistry, and poetry becomes a bridge to understanding the beautiful chaos within us all. We hope our lines inspire you to have hard conversations in silly and heartfelt ways. Our blog is a vulnerable exploration of the tangled thoughts and vibrant spirits that define the ADHD experience, with a twist.

Sometimes we are strangers to our own experiences, sometimes we feel loneliest in the halls decked with those who love us most. How do you navigate those conversations with yourself and others? Our verses are the melodies of hyper-focus, the whispers of distraction, and the symphony of neurodiversity. Here, we hold space to the weather the storm, and the sunshine of our different minds through poetry because we are always one line or one verse away from the conversation that changed our lives.

We believe that within the whirlwind of neurodivergence, there is artistry that deserves a voice. In the untamed forests of our minds, where thoughts bloom like wildflowers, we find inspiration. We are here to explore and celebrate the unique creativity and resilience that ADHD nurtures, one poem at a time.

Join us on this journey through the poetry of ADHD, where every word is a brushstroke on the canvas of our minds, and every line is a revelation of the magic hidden in the whirlwind.

A whirlwind in my mind, it's clear,

Discovering my truth, full of fear,

Heralding a new path, I steer,

Diagnosis brings insight near,

ADHD, a part of me, I now hold dear.

Growing up I knew I was different, I didn’t feel akin to my classmates or my family. Making friends was hard, I donned the “bad kid” label at home and at school. This feeling of being lost because I was misunderstood, a stranger to my community, my friends, my family and especially myself carried on into early adulthood. 7 years ago I was misdiagnosed with a condition that means “we don’t know what’s going on with you”. Not a new line in my life, right? Despite that diagnosis being wrong, I dove head first into managing it and treating it. It was scary not knowing what was going on, not knowing what would or wouldn’t work and though I got better in many ways I couldn’t stop but notice that I didn’t feel like myself most days.

The poem I wrote to myself is short because after decades of not knowing myself, I finally do and the story doesn’t matter to me as much. I finally understand my needs and I can confirm that I WAS right all along, I am different. ADHD makes me who I am and for me, it’s my magic bag of tricks.

Waves of thought run free, In your ADHD, I see Universe's key.

This is a poem I wish a co-worker would write me. Even before I knew I had ADHD starting a new job or professional activity made me feel very anxious. I didn’t know it then but it’s because like many women with ADHD, I was used to masking. So every time I started a new job, I was anxious because I wasn’t sure what mask I was supposed to wear. I wasn’t sure if it would be ok to be the version of myself I though was me or if I needed to be the “checks all boxes” Lina.

Receiving help and support is challenging for most of us, we don’t feel we deserve and we lack the grace and composure to even ask for the help we need. In the case of adults diagnosed with ADHD we often don’t even know what we need. At my next job, now that I know who I am I would probably post this poem on my planner in big bold font for my co-workers to see. It is a nice ice breaker or conversation starter. I don’t need to wear my ADHD on my sleeve however, it does and it will affect me at work, I’d rather my team know that I am neurologically different so that I can be upfront about my needs, boundaries and work style. All team members want support, my hope is that being upfront about the kind of support I’ll need will empower my team to ask for thiers.

ADHD, my neighbor in this tight-knit community,

Your vibrancy is an ever-present curiosity,

A unique rhythm pulses through our shared space,

Fences can't contain your boundless energy's chase.

A connection, unburdened, in our shared embrace.

This quirky little ditty is meant to be a funny light-hearted way of telling my neighbors that I say hi, stare and make conversation at random because my brain is focusing on 10 things at once and struggles to control the impulse to engage with the new stimulus in my environment. This poem can help you navigate the conversations you feel you need to have with the members of your community that you engage with regularly but aren’t necessarily your friends. When I moved into my new complex in July, I had a very hard time using the gym because there is a young man with autism who blasts his music on a speaker in our 10x10 gym. It is very distracting for me even if I try to blast my own noise via headphones.

So I used this funny light hearted approach, more topic specific of course, with our community manager so that we could incorporate some ground rules that would reasonably accommodate both of us. The conversations have been HARD and uncomfortable, writing this short and sweet piece helped me regulate my thoughts and emotions as best I could during the time. Today we both use the gym without a problem.

To my family, wild thoughts in my head,

ADHD's my path, where chaos spreads. Keys misplaced,

time flies without restraint, Yet your love's steady, it's my strength.

Projects started and quickly rearranged, My mind A whirlwind, constantly changing.

You're my constant in this swirling sea, With you, I find solace, I'm just me.

ADHD's a part of my journey, it's true, But with you, dear family, I'm never askew. In your embrace, I find my home, In your love, my wild spirit can freely roam.

Family, am I right? This poem has been the hardest for me to write. I don’t want to stay stuck in the story of my childhood where I didn’t get the help I begged my single-parent for. Today, my family understands me because they’ve seen how hard I’ve worked to understand my self. I am my own north-star, they are the sky in which I travel. Telling my very old school Latin dad about ADHD was challenging and so before having the conversation, I sought the help of friends I know who were diagnosed with ADHD as adults and I wrote this poem. This poem represents what I needed from my dad and was afraid I was going to get. I kept it in my mind’s eye the entire conversation and wouldn’t you know it, he showed up as best he could for my emotional needs.

My thoughts, a wild ride, you see,

ADHD sets my mind so free.

With ideas that swirl,

I'm a creative whirl,

In my world, there's no limit to be.

When you’re different, making friends can be hard. When you embrace adulthood bills + chores galore!) it gets even harder because everyone has different priorities and proximity tends to be one of them. So when my friends from childhood all moved away, I was left feeling pretty friendless. There aren’t sandboxes t build castles in together anymore so making friends can feel awkward. I’ve held leadership positions at work so I’m usually pretty isolated from the rest of the group, not but choice but still. When I sat down to write this poem I was thinking about what my elevator pitch to a potential new friend would sound like. What do I want to tell new people in my life about me? How do I want to connect with them? This poem isn’t all encompassing but like most of my poems they reveal glimpses of my inner world so that I can feel comfortable to navigate my external one. And no, I would never “pitch” myself to make friends but when you identify as odd ball, it feels good to have a few tricks in your back pocket.