Hi everyone, I registered for people’s Artist which includes poetry. I would love if y’all could vote for me. The link is below. Thank you Madeline http://peoplesartist.org/2026/madeline-isler-NQy9

Write a poem using ONLY these 3 words: Storm – Memory – Silence Maximum 4 lines. Drop it in the comments

A coven, but it’s just me I have been kept a prisoner, drank the Poison with steady hands Nothing has been as storied as you, Your heart and its ossuary lands The trees are smug above, Knowing I’m poised to deliver myself To a most delicious fate The serous islands of my soul And Outstretched, an aching vision Of how I once was whole You come to grip me, the switchgrass Sweet on my open mouth To be in love is so violent, I’m constantly shedding parts of myself I’m constantly forested by the wild stokes Of your eyes, glued, to the gravesite of my inner thighs Eternity is a long time Can we choose a shady spot where there’s a food truck set up And a library that SMELLS like a cindering book And a bodega that always has my cigarettes And a front porch where we live In the heliotrope of a new morning A new mourning Kimberly Virga 2025

I wake with a storm I can’t outrun, A race in my chest that’s never done. Thoughts like gravel in worn out shoes, Every step hurts, every step bruised. I talk to the walls, they nod and stare, Full of answers that aren’t quite there. I try to breathe, but the air feels tight, Like daylight arguing with the night. I’ve stacked my patience neat and tall, But one more whisper makes it fall. Every “almost,” every “not yet,” Is a loan from hope I can’t repay the debt. I’m tired of circles, tired of plans, Tired of shaking empty hands. Tired of being strong on cue, When strength feels borrowed, bent, and used. But somewhere under the clenched jaw, Under the anger, under the flaw, There’s a spark that refuses to quit, Still whispering, you’re not done with this. So let me break, let me feel the strain, Let me curse the slow burning pain. I’ll stand back up no pretty speech. Frustrated, yes… but still within reach. By Jason Strickland