When I counted up all those poems, I couldn’t believe I wrote them all.
But, it would never have happened without Medium, and all the amazing writers and publications here.
I’m astounded, but miracles do happen!
To discover a love for poetry is something I will forever be grateful for.
Even if no one ever read my poems, I would still enjoy writing them.
However, I do want you to read them and enjoy them!
I would love for you to run and grab yourself a cup of tea or coffee now, and skim, scan, or scroll through my eighty-eight poems to see if any of them take your fancy.
Some of the poems relate to healing so they can be quite deep, but others are much lighter.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy my poems and glean something from them.
How it all started
I had written a few poems in the past that hadn’t seen the light of day. When I started writing on Medium, I was attracted to the publication, Be Yourself.
The director and editor, Joel Mwakasege has a very gentle approach to writing. He wrote a beautiful piece called A good writer.
In it he writes:
She uses simple and clear language. She is not afraid to speak her mind.
When she writes, she is not trying to be a “writer.” She is herself, and her readers follow her everywhere.
She is intentional about her decisions.
She knows that unoriginality is the enemy of good writing. She understands the challenge is not writing but writing like everybody else.
I felt it would be a safe space to share my first poem.
So, I found one of my old poems on my laptop, dusted it off and submitted it to Be Yourself to see how it would go.
It was the first poem I ever got published.
It didn’t get a lot of reads, but the lovely Yana Bostongirl left a kind comment and has been a faithful reader ever since. She is so supportive of my work and we have since become good friends.
You must read her work, I love it. She’s a passionate writer that writes about life, relationships, self-awareness, writing, what it’s like to be an empath, and more.
I also want to thank Rosy Gee Rui Alves FAIZAN AMJAD Leslie Anderson and K. Barrett. They all read or commented on my very first poem.
My second poem was published by Diana C., the founder and editor of Know Thyself Heal Thyself in March 2021.
This was a challenging time for me as I had left Vietnam where I had a good community and found myself in a new country in the middle of a pandemic.
I needed a support group that understood what it meant to be on a healing journey. I was enjoying writing articles on Medium, but I needed that connection. So, I prayed and I found KTHT.
When I saw this poetry prompt, I felt I needed to be honest about who I was from the beginning. So, I shared my faith in this poem and have continued to do so.
Diana C. is amazing because even if she does not believe what you believe she will still respect you as a writer and not judge in any way.
My third poem was also published in Know Thyself Heal Thyself. It is a reflection of how some people can’t give you the love you want or need.
My next poem was also published in Know Thyself Heal Thyself. I remember how I enjoyed writing it, and how it came to me so easily.
Then came Flying High On Eagles’ Wings which was a response to a prompt given by Diana C.: Expand your wings and prepare to ascend.
My sixth poem came when I was well into the healing journey on Know Thyself Heal Thyself.
If you want to delve deep into your soul, I suggest you follow a few of Diana’s prompts.
Next was, Cat Wisdom. It’s a very short poem.
And for Easter, But, Why Did He Have to Die?
I decided that I would write about my faith more often on Medium. This one I self-published.
Then Simple Living:
Three sisters was published in ILLUMINATION. I am one of three sisters, so this photo brought back a memory that inspired a poem.
They love writing about productivity here on Medium, but sometimes I feel the best way to be more productive is to take some time out.
I say it a lot, so watch out! Here’s, The Joy of Pottering, A non-productivity poem.
My 12th poem, Chasing the Wind was published in Blue Insights.
This was my first submission to Blue Insights. I liked this publication as I felt it had a nice vibe and after four months of submitting work to this publication, I can still say that.
Their mission statement is: Creating emotions — Spark plugs to ignite your virtual humanity: All Languages, All Ideas, All People
The editors that have worked with me are Francine Fallara Ivette Cruz Thomas Plummer Iulia Halatz Gurpreet Dhariwal and Victoria Ponte. They are all very kind, approachable, and helpful.
Then came Who We Were Meant to Be. Published in Know Thyself Heal Thyself:
I wrote this next poem, Red Roses on a trip I took to Braga, a city in Northern Portugal. It was a pleasant break when the lockdown restrictions lighten up for a while.
I also wrote this poem in Braga. New Places, Different spaces which was published in Blue Insights.
Giving Birth to Your Creative Expression is A Process was published in ILLUMINATION in May 2021.
Then Ivette Cruz started her own poetry publication, Poetry’s Home. I was honored when she asked if I’d like to be added as a writer. This was the first poem I submitted, A Love Poem, Steadfast love.
This is a beautiful publication that publishes poems on nature, love, relationships, self-improvement, motivation, and inspiration.
Gentleness is the word that always comes to mind when I think of Ivette or Poetry’s Home.
Also published in Poetry’s Home:
Shine Bright My Child was published in ILLUMINATION-Curated.
I wrote this poem, Show a Little Kindness in response to all the aggression I was feeling from the Covid-19 news.
Something light, The Buttercup:
A Sweet Retreat was published in ILLUMINATION.
The next poem was published in Blue Insights.
This was my most popular poem, Closed Doors. It was in response to a prompt by Diana C. in Know Thyself Heal Thyself: How can you learn to appreciate closed doors just as much as you celebrate doors the Universe has opened?
This poem, Not love, was published in Know Thyself Heal Thyself.
Life Stories was published in ILLUMINATION.
This poem is about the long slow journey of healing. Pretty in Pink, Patience.
Then I started to read articles by the lovely Graceygee (Grace Grossman). She is an inspiring writer and well-being coach.
When she approached me to write for her publication, Brighter Every Day, I was honored and so pleased as she writes on the topic of mental health and well being which is very close to my heart.
She is the chief editor and Shikhar Chaudhary is the second editor.
I decided to write this piece in the hope of showing others how I found healing in my life by changing my thinking.
A poem on feeling bored:
I discovered The Lark publication by reading other writer's poems. I looked at the publication and the guidelines and decided to ask to be a writer.
Denise Larkin has always been so pleasant whenever I submit my poems.
The Lark publishes fictional short stories, serial fiction, and poetry.
As I don’t like to label others, it was hard for me to write this next poem, but sometimes we need to label what is dangerous. My poem, The Narc was published in Blue Insights.
And other times we have to speak up and say it as it is. No one likes confrontation, but sometimes it’s needed, so why not just do it! This poem was published in ILLUMINATION.
I don’t like looking back. We’re not meant to, but if I can help someone to move forward, then I will share. This poem was published in Poetry’s Home.
The Wounded Soldier was published in Blue Insights
And then Sahil Patel showed up. I don’t know how he found me. He said he read some of my poems and liked them, and would I be interested in joining in on his poetry challenge?
I had avoided all those challenges up to then, but for some reason, I said yes, probably because he’s so nice.
Anyway, I did not know what I was getting in for. He launched straight into the deep with an emotional question and didn’t stop! I’m laughing now, but I’m not sure if I was ready for it, but the following pieces are interesting, to say the least.
Betrayal was published in Blue Insights.
Day two of Sahil’s poetry challenge. The prompt was, Write about a thing that makes your poetry unique. This poem was quite popular.
This was a poetry challenge by a fellow poet/writer, Alice F whose work I adore. The prompt was to write my observation on the spot in the city where was living. It was published in Know Thyself Heal Thyself.
Back to Sahil's poetry challenge:
The next prompt by Sahil was to write a poem about an important life choice you made or you want to make in the future?
This poem, Imperfect Vessels was published in Know Thyself Heal Thyself.
Noticing Transition was published in Poetry’s Home.
Day four of a 30-day poetry challenge in KTHT. The prompt was:
Journey of undoing, being, and becoming
I started to write travel poems here on Medium too. This one was published in Blue Insights.
A poem for when I’m feeling tired:
I was tagged by a good writer friend, Carolyn Hastings to join in on this poetry challenge in Genius in a Bottle. The prompt was to write on Intimacy.
Victor Sarkin is the editor who initiated this prompt.
My cry for more silliness on Medium. I feel people are far too serious sometimes. I like a mix of seriousness and silliness. :)
Back to Sahil’s challenge:
How my poems help me. Published in Poetry’s Home.
This poem, Further Awakening was published in Blue Insights.
A poem on Freedom, published in Poetry’s Home.
A travel poem published in The Lark.
The Garden is a poem I wrote in memory of my late father.
A poem on facing bullies. Sometimes You Just Have to Fight, published in Illumination’s Mirror.
Ankit Priyadarshi is a writer friend here on Medium who started his own publication called Patna Qalam.
I was happy to have my poem Real Love published in his new publication.
My poem, Home was published in KTHT.
I did not finish Sahil’s poetry challenge as it was a bit too long for me, but I hopped in when I had time, so this is from day 16. Go For It!
In July, I did some traveling through Spain. This is a poem on Savilla in the South of Spain.
I discovered another exciting publication called The POM. Christina M. Ward is the director and chief editor of this publication.
This was my first poem published in The POM. It’s a fantastic publication that I am still getting to know.
Many of the lovely writers I met here on Medium have started their own publications now. I really admire them as I am not ready to take on such a commitment.
RAINNA is one of these writers. She is the director and editor of High-Value Woman. She’s a beautiful high-value woman whom I admire.
She published You Are a Real Person in her publication this month.
After Savilla and Madrid, Barcelona had quite a different atmosphere and this was my first impression of it. I will do a full blog on it soon.
A light-hearted poem about two lovely girls I met in a hostel in Barcelona.
Sometimes it can get frustrating writing on an open online platform, so poetry is a good way to express how we feel. I self-published, I’m not that person.
I am a travel writer and so I like to write some poems and short pieces when I visit new places. I wrote this when I was in Valencia last month.
Sahil Patel continues to be a good friend and support to me here on Medium. He never forgets me and I appreciate that. This was a new poetry challenge he had started and so I wrote a poem to the following prompt:
Write a poem about a thing/person/place that gives you peace in your life.
Sahil Patel has just started his own poetry publication called Lifeline and is accepting new writers now. Some of the topics he covers are, life, love, relationships, inspiration, and nature.
After almost 6 months of writing on Medium, I took some time to reflect on which way I should go with my work. As I was resting, I came across a very suitable prompt by the lovely Diana C. and just couldn’t resist writing this poem.
This poem came to my mind when I was in a small cafe here in Portugal. Everyone there from the staff to the customers was so humble. It was very nice and it got me thinking about my mum who passed away many years ago.
She used to always say to me, “Orla, just be an ordinary natural person.” She really detested pride.
I think the title says it all. Learning to Do Nothing. :) This poem was published in ILLUMINATION.
And below are a few more of my poems for you to look through if you have time. Enjoy! :)
If you made it this far, thank you for looking through my poetry. I hope there was something in there that resonated with you.
I appreciate you taking the time to read my work. I hope to grow as a poet in the future, but I want to always keep poetry as something that feels comfortable for me. So I will only move in a new direction if I feel led.
Finally, I want to give thanks to all the publications that have published my work here on Medium.
It is a privilege to be writing among such talented writers and poets. Below is a link to each publication:
Some editors I didn’t mention above are Anne Bonfert Cody James Howell PhD (Raiden) Be Adventurer Sh*t Happens - Lost Girl Travel Glad Doggett from World Traveler’s Blog.
They are a great publication that provides a community for world travelers and digital nomads.
Also, ILLUMINATION ILLUMINATION-Curated and Illumination’s Mirror have many amazing editors such as Dr Michael Heng Liam Ireland Dew Langrial Karen Madej and the chief editor himself Dr. Mehmet Yildiz.
There are many more, so my apologies if I left your name out.
Thank you for reading!
