"Poetry is an act of resistance by means of self-expression, self-recognition, and self-love. Poetry is breathing. All of my work is a reflection of evolving breaths; those given, taken, and held in. Each poem tells a story and is written with the intention of nothing less than breathing. Each letter is an atom, each sentence a momentary being, and each poem a piece of my person. There is no way to succinctly introduce what poetry is for me without acknowledging that poetry is a part of who I am but mostly what I am striving to become." - Shyla Hardwick