the first season

2020 had begun as a catalyst. As with any new year, I had hoped that new prospects were on the horizon, and obstacles I had been navigating would soon clear. I had just started college in the fall, and after so many years of homeschooling, I felt entirely out of my element. I was making friends, exercising, learning to build a supportive community, studying vigorously, and pushing myself beyond what I'd ever done to find a me I was content with becoming. I had no idea in the beginning when I began writing poetry, that poetry would become my one consistent means of combating the horrors of the next few years, as quarantine and the worst mental health bout I'd ever experienced combined to completely flip my world on its head. But now, with a shockingly different overall viewpoint and a whole new cast of supporting characters, my coming-of-age phase has come to a close. I've made peace with the time I lost, connected with people who love me- the real me- and am learning authenticity as an override for the coping mechanisms I've relied on for too long. This anthology pulls together the best and the worst parts of growing up in clashing circumstances, delves into a headspace birthed from a year and a half of quarantine- and invites you to watch and feel how it is to dig yourself out of an emotional sinkhole.