An atypical and challenging writing assignment for courses in general or abnormal psychology is to ask the students to write a poem about the experience of mental illness. The format, length, and topic are left entirely up to the student. While shocked at first, students rose to the challenge after being told they would be judged on content and not on format or poetic language. Most of the resulting poems were creative and interesting. The best poems were posted on a bulletin board in the psychology building. The display proved popular with faculty and students, to the delight of the student authors. (RS)