If you are planning to be in BOTH: • Where Our Voices Turn and • Where Our Voices Gather And if you have already paid for both anthologies, please drop your name in the comments below so I can make sure my records are accurate. 🙌 Trying to keep everything organized before we move full speed ahead into the next chapters of this series. Thank you all again for believing in this journey. Watching this anthology family grow has been something special. 🖤

On Monday morning I will be personally DMing each participating member their 4 images for the anthology. The theme for this book is: 🌦️ SEASONS 🌦️ Each image is meant to inspire a poem. Your job is to take that image and turn it into emotion, memory, meaning, story… whatever the season speaks to inside of you. 📚 What you need to submit: • Your poems inspired by the images • A title for your personal section in the anthology • A short bio about yourself 📧 Please send all submissions to:[email protected] ⏳ Submission Deadline: June 20th That should give everyone plenty of time to really sit with the images and create something powerful instead of feeling rushed. I want this one to breathe a little. I want people to feel the seasons in these poems. This anthology is going to be something special. 🍁❄️🌸☀️

🍂🌸☀️❄️ for our next anthology in The Art of Poetry Community on Skool! This month’s theme: SEASONS Each participating poet will receive 📸 4 images 🖋️ and will write 4 poems — one inspired by each image. This anthology is about transformation. The seasons outside us. The seasons within us. The winters we survived. The springs we almost gave up on. 💰 Entry Fee: $20.00 📅 All poems must be submitted by June 11th https://cash.app/$artofpoetry2026 https://buy.stripe.com/9B6cN41CPfTqeIRawO0Jq0b This series has already become something special. Writers from all over the world. Different voices. Different stories. One book filled with moments that refuse to stay silent. If you want to be part of the next anthology, now is the time. Comment below or send me a message to register. 🍁 — Jason Strickland

Money flows from my hands Like a dam bursting Except it doesn't even fill a puddle Love sparks in my heart Like fireworks on the 4th Except there's no one there to see Anger rises boiling Like a pot of water turned too high Except the lid prevents escape Regret lingers heavy Like a rain cloud stuck in place Except I somehow find shelter Confusion scatters thoughts Like billiard balls on the break Except I can't decide the next move Speaking is cumbersome Like a pack too heavy to bear Except I need my truth to be heard Anxiety hovers over everything Like the looming spectre Except I know it's just in my head Compulsion leads me wayward Like the promise of greener pastures Except the promise is never fulfilled Anticipation wrings my nerves Like draining the last drop from a cloth Except it's never fully dry Writing eases these troubles Like a hot bath with calming incense Except the tub is empty The incense have burned down And all that's left Are these words