Steph Gemmell
the myths we need
I read words quickly when I’m afraid to live them—
(when I was a child I ran to stories
seeking relief from loud reality
until I came to see that reality is nothing
except all of our stories woven into one)
—and they take me in:
when it rains I swim quickly through magnificent gray—
(your name has always been your real identity
even when we were small, you knew who you were
we marveled at thunderstorms and bold dreamcatchers
remaking meanings in our secret shared myths)
—and refuse to admit it
I imagine paths of courageous gentleness—
(I spoke little the first time we met
we embraced the sacred spaces of quiet and laughter
somehow we traced the sculpture of absence:
we should not weaken words on what transcends language)
—and vibrant silence
to my friend rainy mountain, with gratitude
about the author
Stephanie Gemmell is a writer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer based in the mid-Atlantic. Steph earned her BA from George Washington University in 2021, and she is pursuing an interdisciplinary MA from Berklee College of Music. As a writer, Steph currently serves as regular contributor for Puttylike Media and books editor for Inklette Magazine. Her poetry has been featured in Just Place Chapbook, Capitol Letters, The Ekphrastic Review, and in the anthologies Falling Leaves published by Day Eight and Which Side Are You On? published by Moonstone Arts. Her interdisciplinary research and nonfiction has appeared in Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa, The Peer Review, and The Rival GW. Steph attended the Glen Workshop in 2021 and 2023 as a poetry fellow. All of her work is motivated by the unique power of art to explore meaningful questions and inspire authenticity.
