Welsh poet and rapper Duke Al looks back on how he began to understand his experiences of suffering ahead of hosting mental health story telling event
Duke Al takes up his pen and starts to write in local cafe
“I’m married to the pen, the ring binds to the page, cause poetry and rhyme saved my life, pen is sharper than a blade.” In this striking segment from Duke Al Durham’s poem, he reflects on poetry becoming his outlet after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and obsessive compulsive disorder.
The 30-year-old artist from Dinas Powys, who prefers to go by his artist name Duke Al, does not shy away from addressing the stigmas surrounding his physical and mental health.
Ahead of Poet Treehouse, his open mic style mental health storytelling event in collaboration with charity OCD Game changers, on the 1 December, he told Alt.Cardiff about his experience with intrusive thoughts as a teenager, leading to him being diagnosed with OCD.
His gaze became steady and direct as he said: “The intrusive thoughts attack your ethics, values and morals, and the things and people that you love.”
However, Duke Al was not always this open about his experience, as a teenager he was reluctant to talk about his struggle. “I didn’t want to tell anybody, because I was afraid of the stigma, afraid of what people would think,” he said.
My brain told my hand, my hand told the pen, the pen told the page
Escaping the noise
Writing became his therapy, particularly after his diagnosis. He first picked up the pen at the age of 11. “My brain told my hand, my hand told the pen, the pen told the page,” he explains. He was able to articulate what he was feeling through poetry, breaking his thoughts down with written words.
Beyond writing, he has a deep passion for rugby, playing since he was eight.
As he grew older, the drinking culture surrounding the sport led him to develop a tendency for binge drinking: “I became quite attached to drinking to make myself feel a bit better.”
Further into his 20s, drinking remained an escape for him. It was a negative coping mechanism for dealing with his intrusive thoughts .
Eventually, after speaking to friends and family, he was referred for cognitive behavioural therapy which gave him a new perspective on how to manage his OCD.
Duke Al smiles after talking about his poem
Understanding suffering
After this experience, he decided to study sports coaching at Cardiff Metropolitan university. Throughout this course he had feelings of uncertainty about what was next.
In 2018, as part of a volunteer scheme Cardiff Met, he had the opportunity to go to Zambia. On this trip he became inspired by a student completing a Master’s degree and asked him how he decided what he wanted to do. “He said he asked himself two things, ‘What do you love and what makes you get out of bed in the morning?’
He loved coaching, but it was clear to him: “What has always made me get out of bed in the morning is my poetry and writing and making a positive impact with my words, using one rhyme at a time.” From then on, he began to build his profile on social media, sharing his poetry with others.
His first poem about the 2019 Rugby World Cup, was recognised by ITV Wales and gained over 50,000 views and three years later he was able to quit his job and focus on poetry full time.
But, how did he become so comfortable talking about these difficult physical and mental health experiences?
“Everyone has to go on their own journey, some people may not speak about issues until they are 70, people may speak about them when they are 20. Yeah it was just my time,” he said.
Open mic night: Mental health storytelling
Duke Al Durham works in partnership with the charity OCD Gamechangers for his event, Poet Treehouse, to provide a space for poets, singer-songwriters, authors and just anyone who is feeling brave enough to share their personal stories and experiences.
This event that takes place on 1 December will provide a safe space and sense of community for those who choose to speak, but also those who are willing to just sit and listen.