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Lauren

@laurenmantis

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Sober • Sapphic • Soft Animal
Lesbian writer 📍 Portland, OR 🏳️‍🌈
Protect the dolls + 🍉💔
Published in Harbor Review + more
UNCW MFA Grad ‘20

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

full of love, low on iron (still)

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We need to protect the dolls and the bois🏳️‍⚧️

Trans&# nonbinary refugee lives matter.
No one should be evicted because of their gender identity.

#genderfreedom #lgbtcommunity #transsupport #genderfreedom #lgbtcommunity

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These are the ones you like the best. Revisit your favorites this week on One Poem Only ❤️🍏

This week’s featured poets:
@gabriellekayartistry
@rileyhmcpheters
@alexdawcreates
@daniellecahillwriter
@michaelagodding
katherinekier
@laurenmantis One Poem Only Revisited

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Angela Thompson married a youth pastor when she was 18, under pressure from her Christian evangelical church.

During Thompson’s marriage, however, something felt terribly wrong, and she turned into a shell of herself. She says she shut down, stopped trying to communicate her needs, put her head down and kept going. For the next 30 years, she’d raise four kids and continue to be involved in her church. But at age 48, Thompson realized something earth-shattering: She was a lesbian.

For the full story, go to UnclosetedMedia.com.

#lesbian #sapphic #wlw

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Fresh Line Friday: The Line That Wouldn’t Let Go

There is a misconception that occasionally follows Fresh Line Friday.

People ask if the first lines are prompts.

They aren’t.

At least, not intentionally.

But sometimes a line lands somewhere inside another writer and refuses to leave. The muse takes over.

A single sentence becomes an entire poem. A fragment becomes a story, and suddenly you’re writing three stanzas you did not know existed five minutes earlier in the small square of the comment box. No spellcheck. No drafts. Just a steady flow of inspiration.

We celebrate that inspiration too.

There are no prompts here. No deadlines. No word counts. No requirements beyond kindness.

And as much as I say there is no structure, every room still requires load-bearing beams and a roof.

The beams are permission to be imperfect and unfinished.

The roof is the generosity of words freely given, sometimes growing from a single line into a poem only another writer could finish.

Thank you to everyone whose words appear here and in every facet of Fresh Line Friday.

Your lines weren’t asking to become prompts.

But the poems came anyway.

Slide One: @courtney.whittamore and @swashbuckling_showalters
Slide Two: @writtenonpurposebyswz and @poetry.by.ms.darkside
Slide Three: @courtney.whittamore and @muted.condor
Slide Four: @courtney.whittamore and @swashbuckling_showalters
Slide Five: @soulful_scribbles_of_kee and @courtney.whittamore
Slide Six: @lovewithalyssa and @courtney.whittamore
Slide Seven: @courtney.whittamore and @poetry.by.ms.darkside
Slide Eight: @laurenmantis and @courtney.whittamore
Slide Nine–Eleven: @courtney.whittamore and @wrecklesswild
Slide Twelve: @electricinfamy and @courtney.whittamore
Slide Thirteen: @the.ash.edit and @courtney.whittamore
Slide Fourteen: @wrecklesswild and @poetry.by.ms.darkside
Slide Fifteen: @soulful_scribbles_of_kee and @courtney.whittamore
Slide Sixteen: @brushandpentales and @poetry.by.ms.darkside

#poetrycommunity #muse #inspiration #collaboration #poetsofinstagram

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HAPPY PRIDE MONTH —CELEBRATING POETS OF THE LGBTQ+ 🏳️‍🌈🦄🏳️‍⚧️🌈 COMMUNITIES & Others

1. Homosexuality
Frank O’Hara

2. See-Through Now
@kiki_poetry

3. Not Me
@the_scotch_sonnet

4. Personal Poems
Frank O’Hara
(Book Rec: Lunch Poems)

5. Beaming with Pride
@libbyjenner.poetry

6. A Sonnet to My Lady with The Jaundice
Natalie Clifford Barney

7. Dolesome Daffodils
@kiki_poetry

8. The Phantom Guest
Natalie Clifford Barney
( Book Rec: Poems and Poémes)

9. The Girl I’m F*^king…
Sophia Carrol
Marrow Magazine, Issue 15

10. Dear Bruce Wayne
Nicky Beer

11. Gay the Pray Away
@laurenmantis

12. Octopus Vulgaris
Nicky Beer
(Book Rec: The Octopus Game)

13. Miss Wrongbody
Natasha Dennerstein

14. Bare
Syd Brewster
The Table Review

15. Give it Away
Natasha Dennerstein
(Book Rec: Caught in the Machine)

16. Your Girlfriend in 30 Parts…
Camonghne Felix

17. Born. Living. Will. Die.
Camonghne Felix
(Book Rec: Build Yourself a Boat)

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Fresh Line Friday: Session 2 is upon us!

What started as a midnight musing to foster creative conversation with other poets has blossomed into a community. I am so thankful to every single participant from last week.

Let’s keep growing.

Some of my favorite ideas lately have been born in comment sections. A single observation, a question, a line someone couldn’t stop thinking about. It’s magic.

They say it takes a village. I believe in the power of collective passion, joy, encouragement, and curiosity. The outcome is stunning.

This place is a haven for you. Whether you have been here before or this is your first time crossing the welcome mat into this little corner of the internet, you are welcome here. Stay as long as you like.

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

Share a favorite first line, a lingering fragment, an abstract idea, and let’s see what we can create.

Comment on lines from other poets that strike your muse!

Offer a next line, share feedback, discuss possible directions and metaphors. Let conversations bloom into unexpected beauty.

Lean in to the collaborative spirit of community. Keep conversations going, lift up fellow writers, or simply share in a space where you will be received with love.

Writing is such a personal process, but it doesn’t
have to happen in isolation. Encouragement fuels bravery to share. Let’s give one another the gift of being understood.

I’m thrilled to feature a fresh line from the lovely @laurenmantis to get the party started along with a line of my own!

Let’s see what makes the grid.

🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱🌱

A few housekeeping notes:

Be kind.

No sliding into DMs uninvited. This is a space for creatives, not creeps.

There are no prompts, no deadlines, and no rules beyond treating each other well. I want this to be a place where unfinished work is given a home.

And if another writer helps spark your piece, be cool and credit them too.

Have fun. Play. Try something new.

Happy writing.

#community #inspiration #poetrycommunity #artistsupportartists #collaboration

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It’s been 1 month since our launch and we’ve already sold half our physical stock! Help us reach our $1,000 goal and raise money for Gender Affirming Care today! Every dollar brings someone closer to the rest of their life.

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Only one more week til REVERB!!!! Here’s another sneak peak into our magazine, handpicked by our wonderful staff!

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A woman beside me on a plane, maybe mid-sixties, watches Reels on her phone. I scroll through my own feed. When she thrusts her phone in front of me, I jump, then watch a toaster—propped up on tiny plastic horse legs, ornamented with a tiny smiling horse head—pop out two tawny pieces of bread. I study her genuine smile, realizing I’ve forgotten how to talk to strangers. She helps me when I don’t answer. “That’s just hysterical. You gotta say you like it. How could you not?” I laugh, and finally find my words. “How could you not?”—"Horse Toaster" by @laurenmantis, a southern lesbian living in Portland, Oregon. She writes poems and prose about love, community, and queer futures. #horse #toaster #horsetoaster #woman #plane #reels #phone #feed #smile #stranger #micromemoir

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🙏🏼🥹🏳️‍🌈

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Happy Holigays from @justsaysk🎄🏳️‍⚧️✨🩷🌈

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