Why did you choose to submit this category(s) of artwork/writing out of the many available category options?

I’ve tried to write rhymed verse, trust me I’ve tried – but I can never keep in the confines of a meter, and I always end up with slant rhyme or no rhyme at all. Thus, free verse is my favorite category because it’s, well, free. Haiku, on the other hand, is a true challenge of brevity without the rhyme – you have to breathe as much meaning as possible into not even 10 words but 10 syllables. So I thought it’d be fun.

What artists and/or writers inspired or influenced your work?

One of my favorite methods of writing is to anchor completely nonsensical tangents to solid, real concepts, a little something I picked up from the many novels of John Greene, my favorite author. For poetry lines specifically, I also like Taylor Swift – many of her song lyrics capture a brevity and mood while still being simple, and that’s the goal here.

How do you resonate with your piece? Why is it personal to you?

For my haiku – I use the word “drowning” to describe how I feel on a lot of days – school, social groups, anxiety all mix into my very own sea of pressure, sometimes there, sometimes not. As for my free verse, I’ve always liked religion studies and personally have always wondered if there is an afterlife. I think it really channels my deliberation thought process – chaotic, erratic, and dark.