After following Madisen Kuhn and her poetry for years, I was ecstatic when she announced she would be releasing a book of her poems last fall. Each word carries incredible weight and purpose, and no word is out of place. Her poems are for the inspired, the lost and confused. You cannot read this book and not feel complete or accepted. Her words engulf you in an ink stained embrace and make you feel welcome. Here are a few of my favorite lines from "Eighteen Years," and hopefully you'll order a copy and find your favorites as well.

1. “you close your eyes and a couple of stars/ illuminate the darkness,/ i close my eyes and see infinite galaxies”

2. “so many people don’t know they’re beautiful,/ and maybe that’s the reason/ i wish i could cross paths with the whole world”

3. “I hope you take the time to be alone,/ To sort through the cluttered shelves of your heart”

4. “I am beautiful in the way that I talk,/ In the way that I listen, in the way that I love,/ In the way that I am”

5. “you are not, where you are from, you are, where you’re going,/ and i’d like, to go there/ too”

6.“let the flowers bloom all around me, as i leave an imprint/ in the grass”

7. “because every day/ is a wonderful day, to love someone”

8. “if it hurts to keep/ everything you’re feeling/ bottled up inside/ let it out”

9. “there is so much more me/ for me to become/ each day, i am new.”

10. “i long for a life i have control of”

11.“i want to be noticed/ as much as i notice”

12. “We waste time by/ Counting seconds,/ And by letting seconds pass/ When we could’ve made/ Those seconds count”

13. “and all I have now are/ memories that feel like dreams”

14. "don't be afraid of getting hurt/ because in life there are times/ when we need to be vulnerable"

15. "I will breathe (carefully) without you/ I will smile (slowly) without you/ I will go on (eventually) without you"

16. "it feels okay to just/ let it all out/ it makes it feel like/ you are free"

17. "will i alter my circumstances/ or will my circumstances alter me?"

18. "you have to fight to be alright"

Order your own copy here!