by Janelle Lynch
NOT TO BRAG, BUT…
I can balance a water bottle on my head.
Manifest like a witch in heat,
Make a mean guacamole.
I sing loudly in the car.
Dance at all the weddings,
Leave a cup of coffee on your doorstep just because.
I memorize the people I love like psalms.
Pray over them in my sleep.
I’ve seen God in every flower, squeal at every small delight.
I’m always flirting with the waiter.
Never learned to walk away from a joke or a drink.
I know how to laugh at myself.
I lose my voice at sporting events,
Ugly cry at any movie involving animals.
Write poems that get under your skin.
I really don’t care where we go to dinner.
I tip way more than necessary.
Coming home from a trip always makes me smile.
The psychic told me I’ve lived a thousand lives.
This one is my favorite.
Jillian Stacia is a poet from Baltimore, Maryland. She was selected as an Honorable Mention for the 2025 Jack McCarthy Book Prize and short-listed for the 2026 Central Avenue Poetry Prize. Her poetry and creative nonfiction essays have been featured in Plentitude Journal, Pile Press, Querencia Press, and more. When she’s not writing, Jillian can be found chasing after her two children. Follow her on Instagram @jillianstacia to keep up with her poetry.
Janelle Lynch is an artist based in New York City. Her photographs have been exhibited worldwide and are in museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Victoria and Albert Museum; and the Denver Art Museum. She has three monographs by Radius Books, Los Jardines de México; Barcelona; and Another Way of Looking at Love. Her work has been featured in publications including The New York Times, Harper’s Magazine, and The Guardian. In 2019, Lynch was shortlisted for The Prix Pictet and in 2024 she was the subject of a documentary film, Janelle Lynch: Endless Forms Most Beautiful. She is faculty at the International Center of Photography and is represented by Flowers Gallery.