I wrote this poem in August of 2025.

I believe a good poem
will move you in such a way
it will evoke some emotion in you
I believe a great poem
will rip you apart, punch you in the gut
and render you completely speechless
I wrote this poem in August of 2022.

the shelf of my bookcase breaks, and my poetry notebooks fall
every single one of my love stories scattered on the floor
Failure after failure
Were any of them worth the effort?
Was the experience worth the suffering?
Maybe it was for the inspiration behind my prose and poetry
and the growth Iβve had
Still, that doesnβt seem like an adequate answer
I wrote this poem in August of 2022.

Letβs go to war with ourselves
and speak our truth and heal unprocessed trauma within
and face our fear and insecurities
weβll walk out with confidence and feel empowered
Weβll leave with versions of ourselves ready
to reach our full potential and ready to love
If you had a time machine and could send just one message to your past self, what would it say?



To myself in 2022,
As I sit here in 2026 with the news of the 6th poetry acceptance, I’ll just tell you to never stop writing, never stop being yourself,Β never stop chasing your dreams and sharing your poetry.Β There is a place in the worldΒ for your simple verses and stanzas. There is community to be found online and locally. There will come a day like today that the path you chose as a writer, storyteller,Β and poet will one day be worth it. π₯³π₯³π₯³
Patty 8/14/26

I wrote this poem in August of 2022.

My bra is the milkshake that brings men to my playground
It gives me the cleavage that makes them feel like theyβre in love
Theyβll claim it’s my words or my eyes they’re in love with , but letβs not kid ourselves
Itβs really my majestic breasts that pop out with their own personalities
they fuel their many exotic and erotic fantasies
Doing a 31 day prompt challenge. The prompt was “Where Flowers Bloom π

I wrote this poem in August of 2022.

My love data tells me I shouldnβt try again because every time
I crash and burn and cause trauma and drama
because every time it ends, I get hateful and want revenge
and While I do appreciate the poetry that comes
after every broken relationship
I donβt think I can withstand the heartbreak and devastation
the next time it ends
I wrote this poem in July of 2025.

took a picture of a dying cicada without its consent
didnβt even know what it was until I googled its picture
I just thought something so vibrant and colorful dying was beautiful
just thought this is the closest Iβll come to nature in this unforgiving july heat
and then I discovered cicadas signify transformation, rebirth, and resilience
so it made sense to me why I noticed it
something so small, almost insignificant everyone else would walk by it
but I, about to have another transformation I never asked for
was attracted to it, noticed it, observed it closely,
perhaps, it was my own spirit reflecting my current ego death
as Iβm about to level up to the next version of m
I wrote this poem in July of 2025.

sometimes I think my sins are the most interesting things about me
Perhaps, thatβs why I worship them and keep making poems out of them
Especially when I start to lose faith in myself
especially when I start lose faith in myself and the universe
and fill myself up with self hate and self loathing to crash out fantastically
with pen and paper and write masterpieces
I wrote this poem in July of 2022.

Kam Highway would see many changes in our family
three teenagers in one house, our parents were saints
at first we lived in abject poverty
trying to find change in the secondhand couch
for ramen or popcorn chicken or anything
to put food in our tummies
this apartment saw the awkwardness of my adolescence
saw my brother almost fall into the wrong crowd
saw my sister fall in and out of love
until she finally landed her first husband next door
and we had a pizzeria next door and also the interesting neighbors
like the marine next door who beat his unfaithful wife
or Tipper the stripper who was in a toxic relationship with the landlordβs son
their song was Kiss and Say Goodbye by the Manhattans
and the fun thanksgivings with all of the neighbors
I wrote this poem in July of 2025.

my childhood was not easy and at times full of chaos
good to inspire my creativity, one where I never needed
much imagination
since real life served up a lot of telenovela energy
from toxic family dynamics to immigrant trauma
to the ghetto melrose place in hawaii
my childhood felt like a constant barrage of episodes
where the adults couldnβt keep it together