About Me
Hi, I'm Lily.
I began in Belize, where I spent my early childhood before moving to Memphis, Tennessee. It's where so much of who I am took shape, from my family and culture to the experiences that have stuck with me over the years. Moving to the United States brought a whole new set of experiences, challenges, and perspectives, but Belize will always be a major part of my identity. Growing up in a likkle village in Belize also gave me the vocabulary to make you cry in not one, not two, but three different languages, should the occasion arise.
For most of my life, I've been much better at putting my feelings into words on paper than sharing them with other people. I've written hundreds of things over the years, but for a long time, almost none of them made it beyond the safety of my own notebooks. I told myself I was simply a private person, but the truth was a little more complicated. I was afraid of judgment, of sympathy, and perhaps most of all, of being understood by someone who could see through the walls I'd spent so much time building.
My poetry explores love, grief, heartbreak, healing, and the complicated experience of being human. I write because, like you, I'm still trying to understand it all. I've come to believe that even our darkest, most complicated, and contradictory experiences deserve somewhere to exist without judgment. Publishing Sad Bitch Poems meant allowing strangers into parts of my life I'd spent years keeping hidden. It was terrifying, but it was also a reminder that vulnerability can be its own kind of courage.
When I'm not writing, I'm usually reading, spending time with my wife and our dogs, or convincing myself that there's room for just one more book on a shelf that's already fighting for its life. I have a deep appreciation for dark interiors, questionable humor, and Batman, although I've reluctantly accepted that becoming a billionaire vigilante is probably not a realistic career path.
Sharing my writing still feels a little like stepping out of the shadows. But if something I've written makes another person feel understood, or gives them somewhere to rest for a moment, then perhaps being seen isn't such a terrible thing after all.
I'm glad you found your way here.
There is a certain amount of darkness that is necessary to see the stars.