“YOU DON’T TALK LIKE A POET” IS SOMETHING I HEAR A LOT, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU MEET ME IN REAL LIFE. AND I PROBABLY DON'T ACT LIKE ONE EITHER (OR WHAT WE'VE ALL IMAGINED POETS TO BE...BASED ON ALL THE DEAD ONES WE NEVER KNEW.)
and really, i take it as a compliment.
THERE ARE SO MANY EXPECTATIONS PLACED ON FEMALE POETS TO BE SOFT, FEMININE, AND QUIET. AND TO BE HONEST, I’M NOT ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
I AM FULL OF LOVE AND JUST AS MUCH RAGE. I LEARNED KINDNESS NOT BECAUSE IT WAS GIVEN TO ME, BUT BECAUSE IT WAS NOT. THERE ARE DAYS I FEEL LIKE I HAVE MY SHIT TOGETHER AND DAYS WHERE I FEEL LIKE I’M DROWNING. AND THAT IS WHAT STRENGTH IS TO ME; THE ABILITY TO EMBRACE EVERY PART OF YOU. EVEN THE PARTS OF YOU THAT YOU FEEL ARE HARD TO LOVE.
WHEN I WROTE, “I AM NOT A DELICATE WOMAN”, I MEANT THAT. I AM LOUD, OUTSPOKEN, “TOO MUCH” AND SIMULTANEOUSLY NOT ENOUGH. I AM INDEPENDENT TO A FAULT UNTIL I’M NOT AND NEED A HUG AND A GENTLE, “IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY.”
I WANTED TO WRITE POETRY THAT CAPTURES A SMALL PART OF WHAT IT IS TO BE HUMAN. FROM THE MOMENTS OF FINALLY FINDING PEACE WITHIN YOURSELF TO THE ABSOLUTE DISGUST AND RAGE YOU FEEL WHILE SIMPLY LIVING. MY POETRY DOESN'T FIT NEATLY INTO What people typically think poetry should be. IT’S RAW, UNAPOLOGETIC, AND UNFILTERED—JUST LIKE LIFE.
you don't talk like a poet...
i am not a delicate woman. don't let my eyes fool you. i do not speak softly or walk gently. even with bare feet you'll hear me coming. i swing open doors like the devil is after me because actually, she never left. but we've made peace for the most part, now that i wear her tongue around my neck... and i don't trust bodies even though they trust me so i carry a fever in one hand and moonseed in the other. so no. i am not a delicate woman. but i was never meant to be. (made of earth, 2022)
"i feel seen"
"my therapist recommended your books"
"i actually relate to this"
life isn't always pretty. poetry doesn't have to be either.
when people ask how i got into poetry, i don’t really know how to answer...because poetry found me.
but how did you actually start writing poetry?
I’ve always been a writer. I wrote for the school newspaper when I was ten and started delivering newspapers on my bike around the neighborhood at that same time (yes, the actual old, paper newspapers, on a bike. alone. it was the 90s lol). I started writing songs when I was fifteen and through my teen years I filled countless journals with all my deepest, darkest thoughts. I later burned every single one of them so no one could ever read them.
Now I put all of my deepest, darkest thoughts into poetry books for the entire world to read.
When I got married in 2011 at twenty-three (omg, I know), the writing stopped because I knew that writing told me the truth and the truth was: I stayed an entirety of “too long” in a marriage that was slowly killing me. But writing is what brought me back to life. Sometime around 2017, I started writing again: poetry this time. It’s like writing song lyrics but without the music.
In January 2020, with the encouragement of my Instagram friends and followers, I independently published my first poetry book, Still Growing Wildflowers. Shortly after that I separated from my then-husband and moved into an apartment in June 2020. It was here where I wrote my second poetry book, The Lovers, and published her in 2021. Then, as a thirty-five, single mother of two wolves (the human kind), my third poetry book, Made of Earth, came to life in 2022.
As I’m writing this, it’s a late Sunday night with a glass of wine next to me. I’m still a single mom in that same apartment with my two sons, waiting for the laundry to be done. And it’s been one month since I published my fourth (and honestly, favorite) poetry collection: The Worst of Me. Looking back over the last three and a half years I am so grateful to every one of you for reading and sharing these books. Without you, they wouldn’t exist.
Thank you for being here for the journey.
with love,
alisha
As a poet, I’ve come to realize that my poetry is not just a reflection of my life experiences, but a reflection of our collective human experience: both the brutal and the beautiful.
People ask me this question all the time! Just click through to How to Self Publish a Poetry book and you can read a bit about the process.
If you're brand new to my poetry, you should start with Still Growing Wildflowers and read through the whole series! Otherwise, pick up the one that you feel most drawn to. You can read more about the books here!
I started sharing my poetry on Instagram under my username, Where She Grows. Because of the themes in my first book, I wanted to have some sort of anonymity, but as time has gone on, I'm proud to have my name attached to these books.
when alisha isn't writing you can find her:
in her bare feet / taking terrible selfies / making a margarita / dancing with the demons / catching toads / catching fireflies / picking up snakes / laying in the grass under the rain and having an existential crisis at two am / floating in a body of water / (still alive) / paddling on a lake with her wolves / chasing the sky (including, but not limited to: sunrises, the sunset, the moon, thunderstorms, and rainbows) / basking in the sun / soaking up live music / etc.
still growing wildflowers
themes
Poems of loss, grief, and healing from childhood trauma.
on amazon
read more
the
lovers
themes
A poetry book about self-love and growth.
on amazon
read more
made of
earth
themes
Poetry about healing from childhood trauma, toxic relationships, and breaking cycles.
on amazon
read more
the worst
of me
themes
A soul-stirring poetry collection about love, life, and losing yourself.
on amazon
read more
✦ 2021 "Best of KC" Best Local Author Runner Up ✦
✦ Best Poetry Book of 2021 by Poetry Rise (Still Growing Wildflowers) ✦
✦ Number 1 “New Release” in Family Poetry Jan. 2022 (Made of Earth) ✦
✦ Number 1 Best Seller in Australia & Oceana Poetry Feb. 2023 (Still Growing Wildflowers) ✦
on the socials @whereshegrows
✦ Listen to my very first interview with Allie from the Things Like That podcast ✦
