That Maine Poet

10/22/2024

I have officially created my very first zine! Based on one of the poems that I’m most proud of, “Problem Child” reflects on how easily (and how young) a child can be labeled as a problem. Having worked in a daycare setting for two years, and now working in social work for children, it’s heartbreaking how quickly a child can be labeled as a problem. Especially for things that are outside of their control. Catch me at Port Vertias to buy one at a discount ($5!!) or order online to get a copy. And if you feel inclined to buy me a coffee, support me on PayPal and Venmo

10/07/2024

One of the most humbling things after experiencing burnout, I think, is putting your life back together afterwards. In an effort to survive the stress of every day, things that I enjoyed collapsed around me. I could no longer give myself to joy, because everything I had went to surviving. And now that I have the energy again…I have to remember how to do the thing as I enjoy again. Rejoining communities I was once apart of feels scary. As if I let everyone down by disappearing into survival.

I hope that fear leaves me, as I grow. I don’t need to be afraid of my friends, my community. Not when it’s full of people excited to see me grow and who want to help me explore.

I’m back. I’m learning. I’m growing. And I’m living.

01/23/2024

When all you’ve been reading is fairytales, your poems sort of take on an intertwsting perspective….and if you can’t read my handwriting, it says “Fathers have it too easy: a retrospective on Hansel and Gretel”

01/10/2024

(Something profound and moving here)

08/30/2023

Sometimes all you have is a line, or even just a thought. Part of a draft piece that I shared at Port Veritas last night— built the poem around this idea, this thought. My neutrality about my life, my situation, my being is often seen as nihilism, or giving up. Because I begrudgingly accept my situation, acknowledge maybe a little too much how difficult it is to thrive, I am seen as someone who doesn’t want to survive. I do. I am surviving. Sometimes that’s enough. I worked hard for my neutrality, and I do not yet have the rush to be an optimist…and that’s okay.

08/20/2023

Guess what just got published today!!

Maine poems edited and introduced by Megan Grumbling.

07/31/2023

Very honored to be apart of the art auction that happened a few nights ago!! I can’t believe what we can do when we come together and support each other as a community—I love y’all!!

07/10/2023

Sometimes patience really is key. I had almost forgotten about this submission—and just like that, I get the email. Waiting isn’t always bad news; sometimes it’s something really great

06/16/2023

I’ve been so focused on my fiction writing that while my poetry has not been neglected, it has not been my main focus. I am always proud of whatever I am able to create, although my focus is often split between one or the other. Today, this labor of love arrived in the mail and reminded me of the many ways that my art takes flight. I am so proud of the opportunities that have been offered to me and the ways that I have made them my own, and for the people who are kind enough to remind me of how good I am. Creation is one of the greatest gifts, and having your creation enjoyed is a wonderful reward. I will continue to work on my fiction (for June, at least), but poetry is always there for me.

06/16/2023

Knowing that the Government is *probably* monitoring *most* of what I type online makes it very hard to learn about dead bodies, specifically for writing purposes. You can only type in “dead human bodies” so many times before even you get concerned for yourself.

06/08/2023

Week one of story writing with the goal to write a book:

Giving myself permission to make a bad draft, acknowledging that no one will see it until I am ready and that there is no deadline. There is no grade, there is no pressure.

Thinking about what I want to change, already, but not wanting to make a perfect draft. This is for no one but myself, this is simply getting the ideas down.

Big emphasis on simply writing to write. Just getting the thoughts out, getting the ideas out. There’s no expectation. It’s just me.

05/25/2023

“Pocket Poems”: the poems in my pocket that I write about you, because I don’t have enough courage to just talk to you