The Beauty of the Unpublished
Not every book or poem we write is meant to be published. Some pieces exist to teach us how to listen, how to grow, and how to write the next one. Each attempt plants a seed that leads us closer to the work we were meant to create—the one that finally reaches the world.
The Words We Don’t Mean to Teach
She tried on my heels this morning, and I smiled — but something inside me ached. Because I realized she isn’t just watching what I say. She’s watching how I see myself.
We can spend years trying to protect our children from the wounds we carry, but they still learn from what we don’t say — the sighs at the mirror, the hesitation before a photo, the quiet comparisons we think we’re hiding.
This essay is about what happens when we stop hiding and start healing out loud.
Writing Through November: The Constant Poet Challenge
November began with a challenge by @theconstantpoet and a whisper: The patron saint of ______.
I filled in the blank with silence — and the words came like fire.
Create to Escape: Finding My Way Back With Words
How language became the lantern that guided me through loss, grief, and the long way back to myself.
Almost, and Still Enough
My poems Smaller, Even Then, and Choosing Me were selected as finalists for the 2026 River Styx Contest, one of those journals I’ve admired quietly for years.
The email reminded me that recognition doesn’t always come loud or public. Sometimes it arrives softly as a quiet affirmation that the work is being read, and felt.