why write?

I have to write what I hear in my head, what I dream in my sleep, what my bones ache to express.

My poems tell stories of strength, love, regret, disobedience, loss, hope, redemption, and whatever whispers.

—Cindy B. Stevens

Books Available

My first collection of poetry, Naked, is available for $12.00 at http://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/naked-cindy-stevens/


For local readers, books are also available at:

Purple Crow Books in Hillsborough, NC

The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC



30 June 2020

maybe I'm dead

Sharing the third and last stanzas from “maybe I’m dead”, a poem in my chapbook, Naked, published by Main Street Rag Publishing Company:

if I put all my colors in a Mason jar
secure the rubber gasket
snap the wire over the glass lid and shake
will my pigment leak out?


I ride the elevator with Jesus
right up to the top floor
will it matter if I jump off the roof
when I can walk on water?

© 2018
Cindy B. Stevens

#color #truth #jump #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #InstaPoetry #Life #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #PoetsOfInstagram #PoetryCommunity #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #SpilledInk #Thoughts #Word #Write #Writer #WritersCommunity #WritersLife #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

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24 June 2020

what shall we call it?

I’m working on this piece, “what shall we call it?”; still needs a lot of work, but here’s the first stanza:

I have to do laundry today

my baskets full of disease

I don’t have to wield
my gun
my nightstick
tear gas
handcuffs
when my badge
buttons
even the threads in my uniform

clothe me

a weapon

© 7 June 2020
Cindy B. Stevens


#LawEnforcement #Reform #Justice #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #InstaPoetry #Life #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #PoetsOfInstagram #PoetryCommunity #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #SpilledInk #Thoughts #Word #Write #Writer #WritersCommunity #WritersLife #WritersOfInstagram #Writing

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18 June 2020

in the shower


It’s our wedding anniversary, so, I’ll share five lines from the first stanza of “in the shower”:


I see you
through my frosted shower door
you watch me

massage shampoo
condition my hair
. . . 

© 22 December 2019
Cindy B. Stevens


#steam #shower #watch #lather #Art #ArtlixirPoetry #InstaPoetry #Life #MicroPoetry #Poem #Poet #PoetsOfInstagram #PoetryCommunity #PoetryIsLife #PoetryIsNotDead #PoetryLovers #PoetryOfig #PoetryOfInstagram #PoetryPorn #PoetSociety #SpilledInk #Thoughts #Word #Write #Writer #WritersCommunity #WritersLife #WritersOfInstagram #Writing


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12 June 2020

even though

This poem began as a writing exercise at Table Rock Writers Workshop in 2016.  Here are 3 stanzas from “even though”:

I simmered in my parent’s omniscience for years
even though it was clear I’d been in the stew too long
I had not found the ladle to scoop myself into my own bowl




I simmered, but never boiled over
my flavors became bold and savory
the longer I cooked
even though I escaped indigestion
I still burned my esophagus

even though I know my crazy
I want my family to see my crazy
love my crazy

© Cindy B. Stevens
5 August 2017

#crazy #family #burn #AmWriting #BeWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IGpoet #IGpoetry #IloveWriting #Inspiration #LoveWriting #Poet #PoetLife #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetryLover #Reading #Write #WriterLife #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #WritersNetwork #WritersOfIG #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #Wordsmith #AmEditing #tablerockwritersworkshop

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06 June 2020

mistress

Three lines from “mistress”, which began as a very long poem, until I dissected it down to the bones:

hands over curves
heat imbues
reduces my bones to tissue

© 18 April 2020
Cindy B. Stevens

#mistress #curves #seduce #AmWriting #BeWriting #BookLove #Bookworm #Dream #IGpoet #IGpoetry #IloveWriting #Inspiration #LoveWriting #Poet #PoetLife #Poetry #PoetryBlog #PoetryLover #Reading #Write #WriterLife #WritersCommunity #WritersCorner #WritersNetwork #WritersOfIG #WritersOfInstagram #Writing #Wordsmith #AmEditing #NC

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