15+ Must-Read Poems about Wellness

(15 to start, 125+ to explore)

These uplifting verses celebrate the holistic well-being of body, mind, and spirit. Wellness poems embrace themes of self-care, balance, and the pursuit of a healthy and fulfilling life.

They might explore the beauty of nature, mindfulness practices, or the importance of nurturing positive relationships. These poems encourage readers to prioritize their mental and physical health, emphasizing the interconnectedness between well-being and happiness.

Wellness poems inspire a sense of empowerment, reminding us that small acts of self-love and self-improvement can lead to significant transformations. They offer a guiding light in the journey of self-discovery and personal growth, fostering a harmonious alignment between our lives’ inner and outer aspects.

Poem Explorer Poetry Archives

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Rubble

by Jackie Kay

‘Rubble’ by Jackie Kay is a dramatic monologue that was included in her collection, Darling: New & Selected Poems. It conveys an individual’s cluttered and chaotic mind.

The poem appears to present a person on the brink of a breakdown. At the very least it raises questions about the narrator's wellbeing.

What was the thought that I just had in my head?

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Eleven

by Tanya Markul

‘Eleven’ by Tanya Markul is a short but deeply affecting poem that serves as a reminder that human connection is often the difficult but sole way to experience healing.

The goal of Markul's poem is wellness through a reminder that the best catalyst for catharsis lies in sharing our pain. The poem itself reads like a small reminder spoken either to oneself or a confidant, which in turn contributes to its intimacy. It is also just as profound that the poet manages to squeeze such a lucid introspection into a single sentence.

The pain

that made you

the odd one out

is the story

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The Mask

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

‘The Mask’ by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is a highly relatable poem that explores society’s expectations and how they often mean you can’t express yourself fully.

More than anything, this poem is about one person's wellness. It also alludes to the emotional state of all those who pretend to be happy by putting on a mask. The poet ends the poem by requesting readers consider that it's not just those expressing sadness who feel sad.

I HAVE a smiling face, she said,

I have a jest for all I meet,

I have a garland for my head

And all its flowers are sweet, —

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A Mental Hospital Sitting-Room

by Elizabeth Jennings

‘In a Mental Hospital Sitting-Room’ depicts the languid solitude experienced by patients who’ve more hope for a distraction than a recovery.

The central theme revolves around the speaker's belief that they lack any chance or hope of getting better. Jennings depicts an affliction of the mind as a lonely and frightening experience; enduring an agony more persistent but agonizingly less fatal than a physical ailment. The line, "So much is stagnant and yet nothing dies," envisions their suffering as an immutable reality that transforms one's life into a miserably unchanging existence.

Too many people cry, too many hide

And stare into themselves. I am afraid

There are no life-belts here on which to fasten.

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Anorexic

by Eavan Boland

‘Anorexic’ by Eavan Boland presents a woman determined to destroy her physical body through starvation while alluding to the original sin.

The concept of wellness or the harmony between the body and the mind is echoed in the poem. Boland describes how one suffers or makes oneself suffer when this harmony within is broken.

Flesh is heretic.

My body is a witch.

I am burning it.

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The Guest House

by Rumi

Rumi’s ‘The Guest House’ is a didactic poem that asks us to view emotions as separate, fleeting entities, coming and going like visitors.

This poem is so well known because it has helped so many people to achieve mental and emotional wellbeing through mindfulness. It encourages us to observe, accept and celebrate our emotions as inevitable parts of being human, and a huge amount of freedom and relief comes from the realization that we can't control our feelings. Rumi guides the reader to a sense of indifference at the emotions which pass through them. There is a lightness to the poem that is hugely inspiring for wellness, and it can be used as a mantra throughout daily life.

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

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Matins [The sun shines; by the mailbox, leaves]

by Louise Glück

‘Matins [The sun shines; by the mailbox, leaves]’ by Louise Glück is a poignant poem that perceives nature as a balm for depression.

Undoubtedly, the central theme of the poem concerns the speaker's reflection on their depression. Spurred by the words of their companion, they mull over the relationship between their depression and nature, viewing the two as being inexorably linked. The image of them entwined within its trunk illustrates just how much they rely on it for some measure of peace. In response, Noah expresses a worry that this is just another symptom of depression, projecting the entirety of their emotional well-being onto a single tree as opposed to the vast beauty that surrounds them.

The sun shines; by the mailbox, leaves

of the divided birch tree folded, pleated like fins.

Underneath, hollow stems of the white daffodils, Ice Wings, Cantatrice; dark

leaves of the wild violet. Noah says

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The Gout and the Spider

by Jean de La Fontaine

‘The Gout and The Spider’ by Jean de La Fontaine is a witty tale about life’s miseries, humorously portrayed through personified ailments.

The poem critiques the struggle for wellness, as gout symbolizes physical suffering and the endless cycle of ineffective cures. Lines about “salves and cataplasms” highlight society’s reliance on superficial solutions instead of addressing root causes. La Fontaine humorously points out how chasing quick fixes—like modern fad diets or miracle treatments—often worsens the situation instead of improving health.

When Nature angrily turn'd out

Those plagues, the spider and the gout, -

'See you,' said she, 'those huts so meanly built,

These palaces so grand and richly gilt?

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The Lockless Door

by Robert Frost

‘The Lockless Door’ is a short narrative poem that details an attempt to hide from inevitable change as both futile and hindersome.

Frost also touches on a theme of wellness, or lack thereof, via the speaker’s reaction to their inevitable visitor. Each exaggerated response to the knock—immediate darkness, frantic movement, and a paradoxical escape—reveals the heightened sense of anxiety that plagues them. In this way, the poet hints at how self-imposed isolation can result from an unhealthy avoidance of the world beyond one's door. When the speaker finally escapes the “cage” of their room, they unintentionally take the first step toward reconnecting with the very thing they were so terrified of. The poem's final line affirms that true wellness, mental and emotional, comes from confronting one’s fears and uncertainties rather than hiding from them.

It went many years,

But at last came a knock,

And I thought of the door

With no lock to lock.

#10

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The Man with Night Sweats

by Thom Gunn

Gunn’s ‘The Man with Night Sweats’ contrasts past vitality with present fragility, capturing the intimate pain of AIDS.

The speaker of Gunn’s piece longs for the wellness of his body and the soundness of his mind. This poem can also be regarded as an ode to past vitality and in part, an elegy to his present fragility.

I wake up cold, I who

Prospered through dreams of heat

Wake to their residue,

Sweat, and a clinging sheet.

#11

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Junkie Monkey Reel

by Maya Angelou

‘Junkie Monkey Reel’ by Maya Angelou is filled with images that make it easy for readers to imagine the impact of severe drug use. Throughout this poem, the poet alludes to the ways that drugs, like heroin, destroy someone’s life.

Wellness, or lack thereof, is a central theme in this poem. When one is heavily into using drugs, their wellness takes a sharp and dangerous decline. The drug user or users in this poem suffer greatly.

Shoulders sag,

The pull of weighted needling.

Arms drag, smacking wet in soft bone

#12

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The Things We Dare Not Tell

by Henry Lawson

‘The Things We Dare Not Tell’ explores humanity’s tendency to suffer alone and in silence, choosing to hide under a mask rather than open up.

The speaker of Lawson's poem presents a person's tendency to conceal their pain as detrimental to their well-being. In suppressing those emotions and refusing to articulate them out of fear, one leaves themselves vulnerable to an internal decay of the spirit. The repeated phrase, "break our hearts," signifies the self-inflicted nature of this silently endured anguish. Ultimately, the poem affirms that a world in which people feel the need to conceal their hardship isn't beneficial to human wellness.

The fields are fair in autumn yet, and the sun's still shining there,

But we bow our heads and we brood and fret, because of the masks we wear;

Or we nod and smile the social while, and we say we're doing well,

But we break our hearts, oh, we break our hearts! for the things we must not tell.

#13

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Twist Ye, Twine Ye

by Sir Walter Scott

‘Twist Ye, Twine Ye’ envisions life as a fateful entanglement of bittersweet dualities that can never be separated.

Wellness in the poem is grounded in the speaker's acceptance of life’s dualities, recognizing them to be essential to its full appreciation. Their call to "mingle human bliss and woe" underscores the idea that well-being comes from recognizing their role in life’s emotional tapestry, not fearfully avoiding negative experiences. The speaker presents the cyclical nature of emotions—how they "wax" and "dwindle"—to reveal that life's transience is a crucial feature of it. True wellness then, is about finding peace within this ongoing dance of joy and sorrow.

Twist ye, twine ye! even so,

Mingle shades of joy and woe,

Hope, and fear, and peace, and strife,

In the thread of human life.

#14

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Notes on Poverty

by Hayden Carruth

‘Notes on Poverty’ by Hayden Carruth is a short poem summarizing the meaning of poverty in one experience.

This poem captures the speaker's and poet's state of being in a few lines. This, therefore, highlights his wellness as a major focus of the poem. The speaker is portrayed to be living in shabby conditions and struggling to make ends meet or even survive at all.

Was I so poor

in those damned days

that I went in the dark

in torn shoes

#15

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Let Them

by Cassie Phillips

‘Let Them’ is a poem in which the poet offers their advice about relationships. They urge the reader to know their value and value others.

This poem looks at certain ideas of wellness. The poet considers the way in which a person can feel better about themselves and improve their life via the relationships that they have and the way that they allow themselves to be treated. The poet attempts to offer a blueprint for a better way of living as they see it, and they explain to the reader that they should expect to be treated with respect while in a relationship. The key to wellness in this poem is personal boundaries.

Just let them.

If they want to choose something or someone over you, LET THEM.

If they want to go weeks without talking to you, LET THEM.

Home » Collection » Poems about Wellness

15+ Must-Read Poems about Wellness

(15 to start, 125+ to explore)

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15+ Must-Read Poems about Wellness

(15 to start, 125+ to explore)

by Jackie Kay

by Tanya Markul

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning

by Elizabeth Jennings

by Eavan Boland

by Rumi

by Louise Glück

by Jean de La Fontaine

by Robert Frost

by Thom Gunn

by Maya Angelou

by Henry Lawson

by Sir Walter Scott

by Hayden Carruth

by Cassie Phillips

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