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emma conlon • poetry & art ☾

@byemmaconlon

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poetry, prose, & other such musings
@emma.conlon | #emmaconlonprompts
“changing of the tides” now available! ↡

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“jellyfish” — a poem from my book, “changing of the tides”

text reads:

I wanted to be like you,

you know?
I envied the way you floated
aimlessly through it all,
the way you let the currents
carry you wherever they went,
wherever they saw fit.

you know,
I envied your indifference
as I waged wars with waves,
envied your driftwood ease
as I struggled against the tides,
struggled to stay afloat.

you said
I could be like you, if only I would let you in.
still, you stung me every time I tried to hold you.

from “changing of the tides” by emma conlon🌊🤍
available on amazon!🫶🏻

#poem #poetry #poetryreels #lovepoem #lovepoetry #poetrybook #lovequotes #quotereels #writingreels #quoteaboutlove
#originalpoem #originalpoetry #igpoetry #poetrytok #poesia #quotes #poetrylovers #healing #healingjourney #healingpoetry #breakuppoetry #heartbreakpoetry #longpoem #lovepoetry #heartbreak #heartbreakpoetry by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago

happy book birthday to “changing of the tides”!!!🌊
I’m elated & nervous & thrilled & terrified but mostly PROUD that I finally overcame my fear of putting this (extremely vulnerable) collection out. I wrote these poems during a challenging time in my life, & while I have grown a lot in the years since, I still feel I owe it to the versions of myself who wrote these poems to follow through on my dream of putting this little book out into the world. I’m still in the process of putting the pieces back together, but there’s so much beauty in the journey. I’m honored to be able to finally share that journey with you🤍
HUGE thank you to everyone who supported me through this long process, especially my lovely friends & family as well as my wonderful partner, Reid, for supporting me from the beginning. but most of all, I want to thank this beautiful little poetry community. I wouldn’t be here without all of you. thank you🤍 by @byemmaconlon

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5 years ago

from “changing of the tides” by emma conlon🌊🤍 available on amazon!🫶🏻

#poem #poetry #poetryreels #lovepoem #lovepoetry #poetrybook #beachbook #writing #writingreels #movingon #healing #healingquotes taken in Nags Head, North Carolina by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago

“changing of the tides & other poems” — the fully illustrated revised & expanded 2nd edition — now available on amazon🌊🤍

to say this is a long time coming is an understatement. let me tell you a story:

in 2022, I went on a trip that changed my life. I had just published “changing of the tides” after years of putting it off because I was afraid of showing the world such a vulnerable side of myself. I decided on a whim to go on a writer’s retreat to italy to celebrate graduating with my master’s degree. I didn’t realize how much my life would change on this trip—I learned a lot about myself and met some truly incredible people. (I also had the best surprise proposal ever, but that’s a story for another day❤️)
on this trip, I met the wonderful @r.cliftpoetry, who along with her equally lovely sister @l.a.clift ran the writer’s retreat. she brought a copy of my book. I was honored, & we got to talking about my long journey with this book. I shared that while I was proud of myself for publishing it, I was a bit sad that I was unable to realize my original vision of bringing a fully illustrated “changing of the tides” into the world. unbeknownst to me, I was talking to the very person who would help me bring this dream to life.
the past few years have been grueling. I have had my fair share of the highs & lows of the proverbial rollercoaster that is this life. steadily, in the background of all of that chaos, this book came into being. I am beyond grateful to rachel for her guidance & patience with me through this process. I am honored to be able to share it with you now.
this book has been a work in progress for the better part of a decade. I have changed so much in that time, more than the 20 year old version of myself who first conceived of this book ever could have imagined. I am fortunate to be able to keep this promise to her.
thank you to everyone who has supported me in this journey. I am honored that anyone has read my writing at all, so to hear from the folks who have reached out to share how it has resonated with them is an absolute privilege. thank you for your kind words & support! I am so excited to share more of this new edition with you🤍 by @byemmaconlon

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9 months ago

realizing well after the fact that I never posted my wedding pics here! :’)
reminiscing & feeling grateful for all the love in my life🤍 by @byemmaconlon

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9 months ago

cw for caption: self harm, suicide

on this day 10 years ago, I attempted to take my own life. I didn’t see any way out. I didn’t think my life was worth living. I couldn’t envision a future worth living.

the past decade of my life is not something I take for granted. I am keenly aware of how lucky I am to be alive, especially today as I mark 10 years from the day my hopeless teenaged self made a choice that almost ended my life. I am beyond grateful to still be here. there are so many beautiful moments I never would have lived through had I not frantically dialed my best friend as I stared down the abyss.

as a teenager, I never thought I would live to 27. I didn’t often dream of the future, because I felt sure there was no future to dream of. it felt pointless to imagine anything filling the void that was my fate. I have never been happier to be wrong about something in my life. these past 10 years have brought love, grief, hope, despair, change, stability, laughter, and tears—I wouldn’t change a moment for the world.

today, I reread “changing of the tides” for the first time since I last proofread it. I have grown and changed so much since my late teens and early twenties when I wrote these poems. though any artist is vulnerable to loathing their early work, I found a new appreciation for the journey these poems reflect in those early years of healing. I am no longer that girl, but she will always be part of me. 10 years later, and I am still breathing🤍

thank you for reading & being here with me. if you are struggling, please know it is so, so worth it to stay. I am glad you’re here🤍

suicide & crisis hotline: dial 988 or 1-800-273-TALK

poems & excerpts from “changing of the tides” by emma conlon

#poem #poetry #poetrybook #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness by @byemmaconlon

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a year ago

musings on grief — the last few months (and tbh, years) have brought high highs & low lows, but through it all I keep coming back to ongoing grief I haven’t quite figured out how to put into words. I took a much-needed break, but I want to find my way back. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with friends & writers I deeply admire as I (gently) ease back into posting here. much love & many thanks for being here with me! :) by @byemmaconlon

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2 years ago

celebrating february with one of my favorite love poems🫶🏻

small things

love, sometimes it’s the small things.
this isn’t all grand gestures
and rose petals and kissing in the rain.
this isn’t all waxing and waxing poetic,
romantic monologues and declarations
of a love unwithering, a love eternal.
it’s the warmth of your skin against mine
and the gentle way you wipe away my tears.
it isn’t just the hallmark card words, it’s
the words we barely choke out in the thick
of full-bellied laughter, the words
we whisper in the quiet of the night.
it’s my face in your hands. the little texts
letting me know you’re thinking of me.
the “just because” flowers. the sheer
wonderment of rising with the sun
and rediscovering the indescribable joy
of waking next to the person you love.

from my book, “changing of the tides”🌊🤍

available through link in my bio!

#poem #poetry #originalpoem #originalpoetry #poetrybook #poetrytok #poesia #quotes #poetrylovers #longpoem #survivor #healing #healingjourney #healingpoetry #lovepoem #lovepoetry #igpoetry by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago

releasing this unpolished monstrosity from the tartarus of my brain🫡 #emmaconlonprompts

text reads:

the best time to have a cigarette
is on a late december night
on a long night turned morning
on the eve of a new year,
perhaps without a coat to motivate
you to be quick to retreat indoors,
perhaps when you can see the glow of red light
behind the skeletal wrists of the trees
grasping at whatever hope there is left
a long-fingered desperation
sprouted out of the year-tred dirt
raindamp with possibilities

so much like ash
so much like soot
so much like so many graves
sprouted over; janus turns a blind eye
to the gravestones cracked
in the slow exhale of time
to be returned again to the earth—
but still, another face cannot look away
the soil grinds us all back down to dust
eventually, we all end up back at the beginning

(continued in comments)

other prompts used:
walking towards the end of the world — @amykaypoetry patreon prompt #amykayprompts
don’t tell me this story, I know how it ends — @alovermostsevere #alovergirlsprompts
janus has gone blind — @quillofthegoddess #quillprompts124
raindamp possibilities — @chaosinline #chaoticprompts
even winter trees hold hope in their skeletal fingers — @heartsongspoet #heartsongprompts
when I close my eyes, I am reborn — @shield.of.armour #sofaprompts
the beginning of the new year is the end of the old me — @elenaspoetry #elenaspoetryprompts
the schism of self — @sophistanzas
back at the beginning — @coralynn.poetry #coralynnpoetry
this year will be different — @lorrainefaepoetry #lorraineprompts

tags: #poetry #poem #originalpoem #originalpoetry #poetrycommunity #poetryprompts #prompts #poetsofinstagram #poetscommunity #poetsociety #spilledink #quoteart #poetsofig #poetryisnotdead by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago

excerpt from “perforated edges” from my book, “changing of the tides”

I can’t help but be wary
of the perforated edges
that lay between us.
we may still be attached,
but it feels far too easy
for you to rip me out,
toss me aside,
rewrite our story.

“changing of the tides” is a poetry book following the journey of first love, heartbreak, & the healing that follows — now available on amazon or through the link in my bio!

♥ follow for more poetry, art, & truisms ♥

tags:

#poem #poetry #originalpoetry #poetryreels #writing #writingreels #scrapbook #collage #collageart #digitalart #quoteart #digitalscrapbooking #writer #indieauthor #poetrybook #shortpoem #lovepoem #lovepoetry #quotedaboutlove #healing #healingquotes #movingon by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago

its the end of the semester & I am suffering🫡 but happy to announce that this poem was recently reprinted in Eunoia Review! I have a complicated relationship with older poems (what poet doesn’t lol) but I am thrilled to see this poem take on new life.
forgive the repost, I have a few new poems in the works that need to bake a little longer.

the same stale air

you tell me my heart has gotten too big again
so you cut it out of my ribs, place it gingerly

on the coffee table. what a heavy, ugly thing
it is, and yet it still beats, convulsing

like a wounded animal between the pages of
the perpetually open coffee table book

you’ve been “meaning to read” for 2 years.
and then: the familiar swish of a switch

blade slicing open the same stale air.
you take my heart in your hands,

all wild and swollen and hissing, whittle
it down to something more palatable, something

you wouldn’t mind displaying next to
the perpetually open coffee table book

you’ve been “meaning to read” for 2 years.
your practiced hands slice away at the writhing

monstrosity until it is something slight
and unrecognizable, no less offensive

than a hangnail. meanwhile, you’re wondering
how the damned thing got to be so big

in the first place. meanwhile, I’m wondering
how many pieces of me you can take

before I am no longer myself.

“the same stale air” is reprinted from my 1st book, “changing of the tides”🌊

#poem #poetry #originalpoem #originalpoetry #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #poetryig #poetryofinstagram #poetryofig #poetscafe #indieauthor #poetrylovers #poetsociety #handwriting #handwritten #poetryheals #healing #survivor #polaroidart #quoteart by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago

it’s been a minute since this happened, but I am nevertheless ecstatic to see my poem “Boudican Destruction Horizon” featured in the latest issue of @rednoisecollective!! I am so excited to be included in this incredible issue alongside so many talented writers! I highly recommend giving it a read over at rednoisecollective.com 🍒☎️ ❤️‍🔥 🎸🌶️ 👠

#poem #poetry #writer #originalpoem #originalpoetry #poetryofig #poetryisnotdead #indieauthor #survivor by @byemmaconlon

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3 years ago