Watty's 2019 Poetry Winner An LGBTQ+ Poetry Collection, about the good, the bad, and the sad of coming out, dating, and existing as a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I started so small With nothing to say for me at all Just a bird in a world of birds Just a being who has not much to show for themselves I worked hard though Even when everyone else cast me out Threw me out I stayed strong I battled the forces of nature As they came my way I kept going And learned to fly I flew above everyone else And saw what I had become With my wings outstretched I saw who I am; A mockingbird ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~Dedicated to Keefe, who supported me when I found myself lost in the midst of my identity~

i am my own god, my own spirit, my own prayer. -- a complete series of 44 poems concerning girlhood, dread, and catholic guilt.

「 WATTYS 2019 WINNER 」 the failings of a surgically healed heart, is a series of autobiographical poems arranged into six thematic parts to form a collection which examines the idea of the collective and how that informs individual. i. family an exploration of my relationship with the men and boys in my household and how that has worsened, whilst the opposite is true of the rest of my family ii. immigrant an exploration of the immigrant experience and how as the first child of igbo parents; i was the intermediate between the east and west iii. spirituality an exploration of growing up in the catholic faith and an examination of all its faults and hypocrisies. iv. loving an exploration of friendship, artistry, sexuality, failed romance, but most importantly self-love and all it entails. v. womanhood an exploration of how in many ways puberty was a bitter sweet reality check along with everything that it entailed. vi. catharsis a reflection on the worst period of time in my life where, with hindsight, i come to terms with harsh and lovely realities of life and death.