You are the Moon and Stars Your Stories

You Are the Moon and the Stars Are Your Stories is a collection of more than 100 poems exploring heartbreak, identity, loneliness, self-destruction, healing, and the complicated process of becoming yourself. Written largely throughout my teenage years, the collection captures the intensity of growing up while feeling everything deeply, especially the experience of loving others before learning how to love yourself.The book is divided into four sections: "the haunting," "the hurting," "the hating," and "the healing." Together, they follow an emotional progression from memories and attachment, through heartbreak and anger, and eventually toward acceptance, self-worth, and growth. While many of the poems explore painful relationships and the consequences of holding onto people for too long, the collection ultimately becomes a story about choosing yourself.At its heart, this book was written for the girls who grew up too fast, loved too deeply, stayed too long, begged for the bare minimum, or lost pieces of themselves trying to save someone else. The poems are intentionally personal and vulnerable, but the emotions behind them are universal. My hope is that readers are able to recognize pieces of themselves within these pages and feel less alone in experiences they may have struggled to put into words. More than a collection about heartbreak, it is a record of growing through it and becoming someone new on the other side.