My poem, “Well” can be found in Issue 02 of Dreamworldgirl Zine, “a whimsical and creative space for all things girlhood.” Digital copies are available to purchase on their website here, and physical copies are available in select locations.

The theme of Issue 02 is Bitter, and picking out a piece for submission was a pretty tough decision. I always try to be versatile in my writing, exploring all aspects of human existence, but if I’m being honest, a decent percent of the poems I wrote in the beginning of 2024 were just… well, bitter. They were words of a tired woman filled with heartbreak and defiance who had spent her last drop of strength trying to pour into the people in her life. I ended up submitting three poems, and “Well” was the one chosen for publication.

This was slightly unexpected. “Well” was short. Actually the shortest completed poem I’d written at the time, with no rhyme scheme or verse structure. When I first wrote “Well,” I considered expanding it, but then I realized that its brevity helped to portray the sheer exhaustion I was experiencing at the time. I didn’t have the energy to explain the details of how I had been drained, only the energy to state the fact that I was completely and utterly empty.

Similarly to my poem “Silence.” which was published in The Pre-Med Gazette, this piece was written not for the purpose of romanticizing unhealthy mindsets but for bringing awareness to them. “Well” depicts the results of empathy that is practiced excessively without boundaries.

While I have not yet been able to get my copy of this issue of Dreamworldgirl Zine, I have enjoyed seeing some excerpts of other pieces that have been featured alongside “Well.” This issue gave many talented artists the opportunity to share their interpretations of the theme, Bitter. Also, I’d like to give a huge thank you to Dreamworldgirl Zine for being the first magazine to accept my poetry for publication!