Poetry Booms

Layla Reyes wasn’t looking to be noticed. New to Maple Hill High, she only wanted to keep her head down, finish senior year, and forget the mess she left behind in Chicago. But then she meets Jayden Carter—a quiet artist with soulful eyes and a sketchpad full of secrets. What starts as a simple school project soon becomes something deeper, richer, and more complicated than either of them expected. Just as they begin to open up, Layla’s past crashes into her present, threatening to undo everything she and Jayden were building. Can two people still healing learn to trust each other with more than just paint and poetry? Or will they stay stuck in the space between what almost was… and what could be?

Cassie Jones was the girl who went unnoticed—plus-sized, shy, and silently battling her self-esteem issues. But she had a secret: a gigantic crush on Jeffery Richards, the star athlete, golden boy and basketball hero of their school. What she wasn't aware of was that he too idolized her, secretly drawing her and composing poetry about her silent beauty. That was until the day a cruel bet forced his secret feelings out in the worst way imaginable. Cassie, heartbroken, disappeared from his life. Thirteen years later, fate brings them together again. Cassie is a tough PR executive, prosperous, aggressive, and not interested in revisiting the pain of her past. But Jeffery is resolved to demonstrate to her that he has changed—that his love for her never has. Will she learn to trust him again, or will the past repeat itself?

Estela Bremmer is a young widow, and on her husband's first death anniversary, she met the handsome, wealthy writer Michael Jensen at his book launch. Estela hated him because he was the exact opposite of her deceased spouse. She didn't hide her disgust towards him at the party as she tried to humiliate him with insults and sarcasm. Her publisher friend listened in utter helplessness to her attacks. She was resentful that her pious, gentle, and loyal husband had to die at a very young age while a man like Michael should live a long life. Let alone that her husband's published poetry book sales paled compared to Michaels' best-selling books. Little did she know that Michael would take his sweet revenge that night in her bed.

A modern tale about two young boys who find their love to hard to pursue. Xavier is a trotted over teen who finds purpose in creating poetry and art. His family is cold and distant. He hopes for a better future at his new school but things turn for the worse when he falls for the popular guy, Cole. Xavier has one friend though, the voice in his head, but for poor Xavier this is complimented with the dark voices that almost always over power and rule Xavier's world. Xavier isn't fitting in too well at his new school and his new found love for popular boy Cole, turns his quiet life upside down. He finds support in no one and finds it difficult to trust anyone who offers a hand. Everything around him betrays him and leaves. If everyone leaves, is there ever a chance someone will stay?Trigger Warning: Self-harm, suicidal thoughts, abuse, violence.

Evelyn has always believed in love the kind that makes your heart race, the kind in movies, the kind that feels like destiny. Unfortunately, destiny seems to have a terrible sense of humor. At twenty six, Evelyn has fallen in love more times than she can count. Each time feels different. Each time feels like the one. Each time ends in heartbreak. There was the charming university senior who wrote poetry on her lecture notes. The ambitious doctor who promised forever but chose his career over her. The quiet neighbor who understood her silence better than anyone… until his secrets surfaced. And yet Evelyn never stops believing. Hopelessly Romantic follows Evelyn through a series of intense, beautiful, messy love stories, each chapter introducing a new man who changes her life in unexpected ways. Every love begins like magic. Every love ends in a way she never imagined. With humor, heartbreak, and hope, Evelyn learns that sometimes love isn’t about finding the right person but loving yourself.

"I am not perfect. You aren't either, and the two of us will never be perfect. But if i can make you laugh at least once, cause you to think twice, and if i admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto me and give me the most you can. I am not going to quote poetry, I am not thinking about you every moment, but I will give you a part of me that i know you could break. Don't hurt me, don't change me, and don't expect for more than i can give. Don't analyze. Smile when i make you happy, yell when i make you mad, and miss me when I am not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don't exist, but there's always one guy that is perfect for you” As I held the letter in hand, a single tear fell off my face and I clench my jaw together, I will be doomed if I let him go without a fight.

Hendell always look for ways and means to create things that makes her happy through writing. She loves poetry and literature. She found freedom and strength when she is constructing words to create a beautiful creation. But in real life, she is aloof. Her doctor diagnosed her with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). That is why she is afraid of people and their judgements and criticisms. She find it hard to trust people so she close her doors and build a wall to protect herself from her own fears. But a guy named Harken suddenly came in the picture. In his presence and kindness, she found herself trusting so much. She learned to open up and discover the world outside her own imagination. However, all good things didn't last. Harken left her like everyone does that made her world turned dark again. And it get worse. She felt betrayed. Her heart filled with pain and bitterness. She became the opposite of her past self. When Harken came back, she knows what to do. Now, it’s her turn to hurt him.

Alina Hart, a sharp-tongued high school senior, hides behind sarcasm and wit to mask the pain of fractured family life. Shipped off to a prestigious boarding school by a father who no longer sees her, Alina struggles to find her place in a world of strict rules and academic expectations. Enter Professor Cristiano Wright, a 27-year-old literature teacher whose calm demeanor and sharp intellect make him both an enigma and a fascination. Tasked by Alina’s older brother Ethan to keep an eye on her, Wright finds himself drawn to the complexity beneath her rebellious exterior. In the backdrop of Shakespearean sonnets and Romantic poetry, Alina and Wright navigate an increasingly fraught connection. What begins as reluctant mentorship soon transforms into a tangled web of forbidden emotions, unspoken words, and an undeniable pull that neither can ignore. Set against the bustling corridors of an urban high school and the quiet corners of a library filled with unspoken confessions, Silent Flames, Forbidden Paths explores the fine line between admiration and desire, duty and vulnerability. As Alina and Wright grapple with their feelings, they must confront their moral boundaries and the cost of their choices. Can they maintain the lines they’ve drawn, or will their emotions blur them beyond recognition?

As a low-income student who's specifically recruited by the elite college this year, I can still feel my hands trembling as I clutch the letter that tells me I get to study for free. Not only are my tuition and miscellaneous fees waived, but I also get to receive 30 thousand dollars' worth of student grant per year. I even get to have free access to the leather seats inside the library, the equipment inside the gym, as well as the aerial garden on the roof. The best surprise for me has to be the cafeteria. All low-income students get a 50% discount on their meals, but the quality of their food doesn't decrease at all. Best beef is used in the steak dinners offered by the cafeteria, whereas a seafood platter showcases the entire huge lobster. Even the most basic mac and cheese meal has different types of freshly grated cheese baked into it. As I sit in the brightly lit classroom and look at the rich students around me, who wear custom-made uniforms and have branded watches latched around their wrists, all I have is one thought. I must be on good terms with them. But my seatmate, who's also a low-income student, isn't as thrilled as me. In fact, she just looks at the people around her with disdain in her eyes. After the first lesson, a rich student arrives at our table. He might not sound polite at all, but at least he's not putting on airs. "Do any of you have time to head over to the cafeteria and buy me breakfast?" I'm about to respond to him when a shrill voice booms out next to me. "You're so annoying! What, you think you rule the campus since you're rich? Had I known that this classroom is filled with useless scions like you who just waste their lives away on nothing, I wouldn't have enrolled in this college in the first place!"

Harry DuBois is the name everyone knows. At 6'4", sharply dressed, with silver at his temples and a velvet voice, he commands attention the moment he enters a room. Owner of DuBois Fine Arts & Jazz Lounge, the town’s cultural heartbeat, he offers a haven for music, poetry, and taste. Women adore him, men envy him, and all assume he’s living the dream. But Harry is haunted. Beneath success lies a past that won’t let him go, a tragedy he never speaks of. For Harry, love isn’t just risky, it’s dangerous. He’s a single father to Naomi, his teenage daughter, the only light he’s allowed to stay. Yet even with her, there are walls. When new art curator Elena Rivera arrives from New York to partner with his lounge on a revival series, a celebration of Black art, music, and history. Harry is drawn to someone he hasn’t been with in decades. But Elena has secrets, and she’s starting to notice cracks in Harry’s perfect image. As past and present collide, Harry is forced to confront the pain he has buried for over 25 years. A love lost, a betrayal unforgiving, and a night that changed everything. The question is: can Harry finally allow himself to feel again, or will the past claim him once and for all?