Steph Gemmell
love letter to the poet’s brain
sometimes she imagines the source of her thoughts
(openminded and decisive wondering)
she dreams of what forms and carries her dreams
(what is this being, becoming, in between)
in an impulse to defy and define subjectivity
(through swaying waves of hyperlexia)
the poet finds her identity beyond language
(grateful, even as her graceful mind races)
she would wish for her mind to turn off her thoughts
(like a faucet: now, she feels fulfilled by their flow)
she used to loathe her own constant contemplation
(she used to question the feeling of being herself)
she believes in the anxiety of freedom
(the inverted turn of paradox alive in reality)
quietly defying the sun’s expectations
(all while trying to decipher her own)
even as music is also language
(even as notes remain letters and locations)
her mind reads and writes her thoughts
(with rapid rhythms, by cinnamon candlelight)
her brain finds truth in the cool, clear dew
(meaning seems to be in the details)
she seeks always to capture complexity
(reawakening to a rich reality)
dreams and reality coalesce in experience
(but isn’t this often the object of hope)
gazing with awe through fog into the unseen
(tracing the border between absence and presence)
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.