This is chapter two of creative writing major Jasmine Taylor’s poetry collection “Maybe the Beginning of Me.” This collection consists of eight original poems surrounding love, identity, relationships, and family through the lens of a young Black woman.

This short poem follows Ana, the narrator, as she shares the story of a man she once knew and his hasty goodbye. Her sadness is gossiped about throughout the universe until it reaches the trees of Earth through a breeze. There they tell her that her friend joined the stars and can now hear her. This poem was mostly inspired by B.K. on Hello Poetry’s “I’ll tell the stars about you”, and is dedicated to someone close to Ana who unfortunately died recently.

This is chapter one of creative writing major Jasmine Taylor’s poetry collection “Maybe the Beginning of Me.” This collection consists of eight original poems surrounding love, identity, relationships, and family through the lens of a young Black woman.

“…I’ve always related my emotions to different colours, and these poems were meant to showcase that without our emotions (including both good and bad) we would be living in such a dull, black and white world as well as robbed of the duality each colour holds.”

This is a touching poem about a grieving mother on the loss of their child. The term ‘Mother’ is used to transcend across both biological and non-biological parental attachments. ‘Mother’ uses the pronouns they/their/them.

“Never the Only One” highlights two people who are struggling with their mental health and feel alone, but through connection and friendship, they build trust and courage to seek professional resources. This piece of prose goes to show we are never alone.

“Things happen for a reason, no matter how big or small that thing may be. We may never know why they happen, but oftentimes all we can really say is thank you. I guess this is my reminder for you to always appreciate life, and understand how life takes us on this rollercoaster of ups and downs to pave the path of where we need to go.”