good morning to all the things we could've been
and all the things we used to be and everything we are still holding on to
what else was I going to do
I'm not sure how I'm going to describe this year once it's over.
I fulfilled a childhood dream twice. I got my heart broken and lost some close friends in the aftermath. I went out dancing a bunch. I fell in love again. I picked up a guitar for the first time in 20 years. I met my mentor. I got a bunch of trans people in a room and we made art together. I read poems to a room of almost 100 people. I practiced scales on the balcony at sunset. I hugged friends and cried a bunch and sometimes I didn't want to be alive and sometimes I couldn't imagine anything else.
it will be deceptively easy to talk about this year later in terms of the biggest achievements. the bo0ks will live in my author bio and tell a story about 2026. my telling of it will dwell on that one night I got to kiss a pretty girl in the rain. the trick, I think, is to make enough room in you to hold all of it.
updates
my debut full-length poetry collection is out SOON
it's finally here! what started three years ago as a disparate cluster of drafts in my Notes app has been threaded together into a physical book you can hold in your hands right now! (well. not, like, RIGHT now. but soon! in like three weeks!)
my publisher is hosting a launch show on Sept 1st at The Whistler in Logan Square for my debut full-length poetry collection if you know the color of their eyes it's already too late. I'll be performing my most ambitious set to date, with backing guitar and vox from my chosen sister Lillian Melody (bass player for local noise punk behemoths Weaklung). stick around after for a convo with the editorial team for Raging Opossum Press, an audience Q&A, a book signing, drinks, hugs, and immaculate vibes.
if you can't make it out on Sept 1, no worries– I'll have lots of shows and appearances this fall, in Chicago and elsewhere in the Upper Midwest. full book tour dates to come!
the rest is up to you, love is out in the world!
my debut chapbook has been out in the world for almost three months! I spent most of that time reading poems from the chapbook to audiences ranging from a handful of picnic-goers to nearly a packed club venue, from a pizza joint to a punk festival.
I still have a few copies of the first print run– you should maybe hurry tho.
what's Bridget reading?
my political platform is that we should all be writing more poems about our friends
what's Bridget listening to?
oh hey I'm back on my goth bullshit
other people's poems
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
love you,
Bridget