Poem included in Poetry in Voice anthology

I grew up performing other writers’ work in speech arts festivals, nursing the hope that one day I would be a published writer like those whose work I knew by heart. It means so much to know that today there are young performers who are performing my poetry. Truly, one of the things I’m most proud of since the publication of The Brightest Thing is the inclusion of “Poem for My Body” (from The Brightest Thing) in the international online anthology curated by the kind folks of Poetry in Voice. Students across Canada have chosen my poem, connected to it, and helped connect it to even more audiences through their memorization and performance of it. I can’t think of many better things than to know that someone–multiple someones!–thought enough of my poem to learn it by heart. Oh, by heart! My heart! Thank you!

You can read the entire poem online as part of the Poetry in Voice anthology, as well as a mini-interview with me, in which I share a little bit about how important poetry, and the performance of it, has been to be since I was a child, then a teen, performing in speech arts festivals and aching to be an author. If you like the poem and you haven’t picked up your copy of The Brightest Thing yet, please consider doing so: I wrote these poems for you to read them!