deep in my notes app

poems on desire & longing //

I have several poems on desire and longing I’d like to share with you today. But first, a thank you:

I've been slowly and steadily growing //understories// over the last six months since I launched it. I write poetry & prose about intimacy, about deep feelings and meaningful lived experiences — about the exquisite aches of living and loving and parenting, about memory, and portals, and time travel, and private underworlds. I write when the muse strikes and don't pressure myself into a regular publishing schedule. I don't often look at metrics, choosing instead to focus more on community and connection. I was surprised to realize I hit 300 subscribers this week. Thank you to everyone following along. If you’re enjoying my writing, please share it with others. It feels so good to know these words are traveling and touching others.

I drafted these poems while attending Ramya Ramana’s five-week “Origins of Longing” workshop via Brooklyn Poets earlier this year. Most of these poems began as phrases in my Notes app, tapped out in those fervent moments where the words spill over — while hiking, or awake on sleepless nights, on plane rides, during liminal waiting moments before arriving or departing. They were then shaped and rearranged during workshop hours, and I am so grateful to my fellow classmates for their feedback. I’ve been sharing them on Instagram but thought it would be fun to pull a few together in a mini collection here on Substack.

“Does Time Exist?” cyanotype print // artwork by Kate Carey Peters

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