Stripped: A Collection of Poems Written in Recovery

Hi. I'm Cissy. I started a business making glitter heels for strippers and pole dancers in July 2023. I failed epically during my first year of business. My content struck a nerve with my new community in North Carolina. I was intensely cyberbullied and ostracized. By August 18, 2023, I had my first stalker on Instagram.

Triggered by stress from being cyberbullied and stalked, I experienced my first psychotic episode. I developed intense surveillance delusions while in psychosis. You know how some people pray to God? I prayed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On February 20, 2024, the day after my 31st birthday, I was incarcerated for contempt of court. I'd been freshly diagnosed with Autism, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder a month prior.

After I was released from jail, I was desperate for an outlet to express myself. Instagram had become an unsafe and volatile space for me to tell my story. I stopped talking about my life experiences and started writing poetry.

Poetry carried me through intense episodes of fear, depression, and through the development of suicidal ideations. Every bit of what I knew about my identity had been stripped. Poetry allowed me to reclaim my voice.

Stripped is a collection of poems written while in recovery.