Poeaxtry's Prism

Spell. Stone. & Sparks that Ignite Change

Tag: community building

  • Poeaxtry creative expression: Poetry, Curated Collections, Freebies, Design, and Community Care

    Poeaxtry creative expression: Poetry, Curated Collections, Freebies, Design, and Community Care

    How are you creative?

    With Poeaxtry and the Prism creations creativity is not a single act, it is a network of choices, practices, and systems that produce many works with multiple meanings. Works are over time, across forms, mediums, and or lived experiences. I create through many different types of poetry collections, digital magazines, short stories, multiple curated freebies, visual design, blogging, ritual, craft, indie publishing, and community building.

    These practices all are used in a way that is reinforcing the others, each project designed for future forward thinking, accessibility, and connecting with others.

    This post will document how I am creative in action, not theory, and then it shows how a multi-disciplinary practice generates advocacy, community care, and minority motivation through creativity.

    Comment below the different ways you are creative or centered in community care! Let’s share and grow together!

    Poetry

    Poetry is the foundation of my creative practice, spanning themes like grief, politics, intimacy, survival, love, joy, and refusal,(just to name a few) across collections, digital freebies, quarterly zines, and ongoing work. I design every poem to function as a standalone piece, a thematic entry in a collection, or any spark of line that pops in my mind. I use observation, memory, emotional truth, and craft to transform experience into language, shaping rhythm, meaning, resonance, and reader reflection.

    Watpadd Quotev Booksie portfolio Poetizer

    Etsy payhip gumroad kofi Amazon

    Digital Free Quarterly Magazine

    The digital free quarterly magazine is a curated, layered, intentional creative project. That may include poetry, short prose, essays, visuals, ads for indie creatives etc, contributor work, and more sequenced for rhythm, accessibility, and community care. This is designed in Canva Pro, hosted webpage, serving as both community collaboration and minority movement. All indie and minority inclusions free to build and include work.

    Minority/ Marginalized community members may submit up to 10 poems, 10 art pieces (digital or photographic high definition), 2 prose, and or 2 essays . Allied creators with supportive works may submit 1/2 of the above cap. Submit by emailing poeaxtry@gmail.com or form.

    Short Stories

    Short stories one of the newer creative avenues in my experimental creative endeavors. These allow narrative exploration beyond poetry, experimenting with pacing, tension, voice, drafted, refined, and launched when the right format is finalized. Genres including horror-gore, splatter-punk, and or erotica layered together and creating space to confront fear, power, or boundary.

    Refusal as Creative Act

    Refusal in itself is a creative decision, choosing to publish, without willingness to conform. To continue holding space for deeper work, rejecting exploitative trends, building sustainable creative practices, preserving integrity, impact showing in project longevity, audience trust, and the ability to iterate without compromise, commas marking pause, consideration, deliberation.

    Hiking and Observation as Source Material

    Hiking and observation provide primary source material for different poems, blog posts, curated content, imagery, narrative inspiration, and more. Documentation through hiking journals, photos, videos, emotional reflections in authentic detail, and more.

    Systems and Strategy as Creative Problem Solving

    Systems and strategy turn scattered creative work into sustainable practice, organized collections, managing different free and paid offerings, streamlining digital publications, maintaining workflow across multiple platforms, ensuring creative output, and more

    Visual Design as Storytelling

    Visual design communicates narrative and tone, from digital magazine layouts, cover art, artistic spacing, typography, color, visually themed elements across collections, poem images (full poems or selected lines posted on socials/ website) . These things work to reinforce the emotional impact of literary work, and are designed in Canva Pro for consistency, readability, and aesthetic clarity.

    Blog Writing as Living Documentation

    Blog writing captures process, reflection, and documentation of ongoing creative practice, hikes, local outdoor historical or artistic places, calls for arc readers/ collabs/ street team and more, emotional journals, daily and random prompts, newsletters & small project memos, free indie spotlights, minority positivity, call outs of people in the media/ politics promoting bigotry, poems, and much more.

    Community Building as Collaborative Art

    Community building is creative labor, curating contributors, centering minority voices, hosting collaborations, structuring submissions, balancing recognition and visibility, creating interactive spaces, creative contests, giveaways, planning virtual and local open mic nights, and more.

    Submit Collaboration proposal, manuscript, art book, etc for Publishing by emailing poeaxtryspoetryprism@gmail.com or form. Volunteer to Mod community spaces or curation etc for community collabs and more email poeaxtry@gmail.com or submit this form

    Ritual and Spellwork as Intentional Design

    Ritual and spellwork translate intention into structured action, combining symbolism, timing, materials, and purpose. This are made to impact both maker and recipient.

    Physical items tarot & pendulum readings on gumroad and payhip

    Handmade Craft as Grounded Creation

    Handmade craft embeds creativity in the physical, tactile, and material, including rockhounding, tumbling, polishing, lapidary art, jewelry design and making, keychains, wands, wreaths, windchimes, natural sprays, tinctures, beanies, shirts, hybrid print pamphlets, small printable/ digital use zines, and much more. By creating functional objects from raw stone, bones, crystals, wood, herbs, and more, design reflects manifestation/emotion/ etc.

    Etsy

    Indie Publishing as Architecture

    Indie publishing is the architecture that holds all creative output, from solo collections, poetry, collaborative projects, structuring, sequencing, designing, optimizing, and distributing work, ensuring longevity, discoverability, and accessibility.

    I am creative through layered, intentional practice, through poetry, digital publications, short stories, hiking, visual design, blogging, rituals, craft, and indie publishing, each practice informing the others, each project structured for longevity, visibility, and impact, connection, the ongoing evolution of work, creativity as living, adaptive, functional. These are all deeply embedded in process and practice.

    Send this post to a friend who you think would be interested in submitting to a no denial based on artistic taste submission.

    Align with our morals, ethics and or our community centered care? Support the poet and his pen here : ko-fi buy me a coffee cashapp PayPal

    Link in bio

  • Poeaxtry Expands Online: New Twitch Channel & Revolt server

    Poeaxtry Expands Online: New Twitch Channel & Revolt server

    Join Us Live on Twitch

    Big news: Poeaxtry is now streaming live! Tune into our Twitch channel for poetry readings, creative collabs, and behind-the-scenes looks at our indie publishing and witchy projects. Maybe some rock slicing jam sessions? Who knows I Just set it up last night… FINALLY! So come check it out: twitch!

    Expect live Q&As, community spotlights, and surprises along the way.

    Poeaxtry Revolt – Your Creative Community Hub

    REVOLT:

    If you haven’t heard Poeaxtry’s Poetry Prism discord got a twin server. Where you ask? We joined the Revolt app, now felt like the perfect time. Our creative community is growing with discussion spaces for poets, artists, and writers of all kinds. Join here.

    Whether you’re here for poetry, art, or just to meet like-minded creators, there’s a spot for you.

    Connect and EngageFollow, join, or just watch! Let’s bringing all corners of Poeaxtry together online. Stay tuned for streams, events, and community-driven projects highlighting voices that need to be heard.

    Poeaxtry’s Links

    Poem nature

  • Why I Blog: Healing Through Words and Wilderness

    Why I Blog: Healing Through Words and Wilderness

    Why do you blog?

    Finding My Voice in the Digital Wilderness:

    At thirty-three, I never imagined I’d become someone who shares the intimate parts of my life online. Yet here I am, consistently showing up to write about grief, gender identity, and the healing power of hiking. If you’re wondering why someone would choose to be so vulnerable in public spaces, the answer is both simple and complex: because sharing our stories creates the connection and healing we all desperately need.

    When Grief Needs Witnesses:

    Losing my mother changed how I process emotions entirely. Suddenly I had all these feelings with nowhere to put them. Writing journal entries addressed to her felt worse than loosing her fake almost. So I started doing it differently. I discovered something powerful: I wasn’t the only person talking to someone who couldn’t talk back.

    Sometimes the most healing thing we can do is witness each other’s pain and say “me too.”

    Mountains as Medicine:

    My hiking posts might look like simple nature photography, but they’re actually documentation of my primary therapy. When emotions become overwhelming, I head to the trails. The physical exertion helps regulate my nervous system while natural beauty provides perspective impossible to find in urban chaos. And it’s something my mom and I loved to do together.

    Each trail represents a different emotional journey. Sharing these experiences shows others that outdoor activities can be powerful mental health tools, not just weekend recreation. Nature doesn’t judge your tears or your questions about who you’re becoming.

    Creating the Safe Spaces We Needed:

    The internet can be hostile, especially for transgender people navigating identity questions. By consistently sharing authentic content about my experiences, I’m creating the kind of safe space I desperately needed when I was younger and struggling alone.

    This extends beyond trans content. Writing honestly about grief, family estrangement, mental health struggles, and finding joy in simple moments creates multiple entry points for people who need to feel less alone. Safe spaces aren’t just physical locations; they’re emotional environments where vulnerability meets understanding instead of judgment.

    The Healing Power of Owning Your Story:

    Blogging forces me to articulate experiences that might otherwise stay tangled in my head. The writing process helps me understand my own emotions more clearly. When I write about complicated family relationships or gender identity struggles, I often discover insights that weren’t apparent until I found words for the experience.

    There’s something revolutionary about controlling your own narrative. For too long, other people told stories about what grief should look like, how men should process emotions, or what it means to be transgender. Blogging gives me ownership over how my experiences are presented and discussed.

    Building Community Through Shared Truth:

    The most unexpected benefit has been the community that formed around shared experiences. People reach out to tell their own stories of loss, identity questions, or finding peace in nature. These connections prove that individual healing contributes to collective healing when we’re brave enough to be honest about our struggles.

    Comments become support groups. Email exchanges turn into lasting friendships. Social media shares connect my words with people who needed to read exactly what I wrote on exactly the day they found it. This ripple effect makes the vulnerability of public writing feel worthwhile.

    Why This Matters:

    Some days blogging feels like shouting into the void. Other days it feels like the most important work I do. The consistency matters more than perfect posts. By showing up regularly to write about real experiences, I’m proving that our messy, complicated stories matter enough to be told with care.

    The combination of grief processing, outdoor therapy, and transgender experience sharing might seem random, but it reflects reality: human beings are complex. We don’t fit neat categories, and our healing doesn’t follow predictable patterns. My blog honors that complexity while creating content that might help others navigate their own beautiful, difficult lives.

    An Invitation to Connection:

    If you’re processing loss, questioning identity, struggling with family relationships, or finding healing in nature, you’re not alone. If you’re looking for authentic stories that don’t tie everything up with neat bows, this space is for you. If you need permission to feel complicated emotions about complicated situations, consider this your invitation.

    We heal in community, even when that community exists primarily in digital spaces. By sharing our real experiences, we create opportunities for others to feel seen, understood, and less alone in whatever they’re carrying.

    This is why I blog: to process, to connect, to heal, and to remind anyone who needs to hear it that their story matters too. Your struggles are valid. Your questions are welcome. Your healing journey deserves witnesses who understand that growth is messy, nonlinear, and absolutely worth sharing.

    Links

  • Speaking at the 16th Annual TransOhio Trans & Ally Symposium

    Speaking at the 16th Annual TransOhio Trans & Ally Symposium

    When the Universe Has Plans for You:

    Sometimes the universe knows what you’re supposed to do before you even know it yourself. That’s exactly what happened with me and the TransOhio Symposium.

    I signed up months ago. Saw some posts online, clicked through their website, thought “hmm.” A few days went past and I was seeing them all over, I mean I have lived in Ohio most of my life and never heard of TransOhio before Spring 2025. So I went back to their website. Signed up to present at this symposium and then… completely forgot about it. When I recently thought about it I chalked it up to just me not being picked. And honestly There were a few other prior times I had thought about it like damn that would have been cool. But I was in a sense moved on from that idea.

    How I Almost Missed My Big Opportunity:

    Then, while cleaning out my inbox at the 2am midnight shift drag purging the nonsense, unsubscribing the usual clutter that I never get to. I happen on three emails from TransOhio. One of them told me I did get accepted I received it over a month ago. Filtered, messages can eat my booty. It didn’t go to spam or and if the folders. I didn’t notice it in my general inbox, but I randomly go through my subscription list and WAM! BAM! Thank you not so random urge to clean that up. Just about ten days prior to kick off. Don’t worry I’m gonna deliver.

    What Is the TransOhio Symposium?

    TransOhio is the annual 3-day symposium at Owens Community College in Toledo, Ohio, this year from September 5th through 7th. Over 200 participants, 40 workshops, continuing education credits, entertainment, food, and a space alive with connection, conversation, and creation. It’s a place where trans artists, thinkers, and allies come together.

    My session is “Poetry, Ink, Identity, and Insistence: Transcreation and Survival in Defiance” at 3:15 PM in room A. I’ll have printouts, slides, maybe even other physical items you can keep. I will bring the kind of threads that link through art, poems, ideas, and experiences. Some will overlook this thinking it’s just another poetry session. This is tangible real life community building.

    From Fear to Acceptance: My Journey to the Stage

    Honestly, I had completely forgotten about this thing. I thought it wasn’t happening. When I signed up I thought I was way out of my league, but I like to aim high. My speech class in college of less than 15 people was scary. I am going to stutter but I’m going to totally fucking do it. I really didn’t expect it. And I guess that’s the point. Sometimes you do something you don’t even know you’re supposed to do. You don’t even know it. The universe knows, though. And it makes sure you get there, at the perfect time, in the right way, for the right people, and you’ll know exactly what you’re supposed to say.

    How This Differs From My Previous Experience:

    I’ve done one seminar before, if you want to call it that. I stood shirtless under 1 year post op with my surgeon at GenderFest Vegas also a trans conference. I was just Standing there bar-b-Que sauce on my titties, kidding. Anyway the lovely artist, surgeon, god Brandon Reynolds did all the talking and I just tried not to stare at anyone too long, or make direct eye contact, and I fought so hard to hold still and still lost.

    Why This Event Matters Beyond Just a Presentation

    This isn’t just a seminar or a conference I stand in-front of shirtless. It’s a community, a vision, a connection, a series of small nudges and echoes for change. It’s 10 days before showtime, filtered emails, patterns in timing that line up so perfectly you can’t call it luck. It’s survival. It’s defiance. It’s insistence. It’s my mom being the best damn guardian angel a transgender son or any son could need.

    So, whether you’re reading this sooner or later. Maybe you’re thinking about the symposium, either way the lesson is clear: do the thing. Yes, even if you don’t know why. Sometimes the universe handles the rest. Sometimes it’s emails in the right moment, or it’s seeing a new thing or place nonstop now. The best is when you just stand there and everything clicks.

    But that is what it’s supposed to do. That’s how it’s meant to happen. 10 days. Three emails. One untraceable filter. And suddenly, the universe is in motion, the room is ready, the words are ready, and somehow I know I will be too.

    This is my yellow and I keep experiencing more and more yellow things. Listen to Coldplay or something.

    Poeaxtry’s Links

    Are you attending the TransOhio Symposium?

    Have you ever had a moment where the universe seemed to push you toward something important?

    Share your experiences in the comments!