About me

Updated / March 2019

I remember waking up to the sound of my mother crying. I crept out of bed and peeked through the railing of the stairs. My mother was weeping into her hands while my father held her. The landline lay on the floor, between weeps I could hear the dial tone of an ended call.
That was the day my life changed. That was the day my Aunt Lorrie was found dead, murdered by her ex-husband. Events moved fast after that. My mother went to New Jersey to watch the trail. At that point, it was the longest I’d been without her. My cousins, Keion and Dylan came to live with us. I quickly adapted to the role of an older sister and the boys were officially adopted within months.
I was only six years old when I learned that death can kill more than the lost soul. My mother never stopped grieving her sister. My family dynamic shifted. Keion and Dylan will always be seen as the boys who lost their mother. Because of this, they get a lot of (understandable) special treatment. I’m not mad about it now, but growing up it made me feel invisible. On top of feeling invisible, I felt guilty for being angry. How dare I demand attention when the boys need so much support?
To cope with all this, I tried to be perfect. I wanted to be the one child my parents wouldn’t have to worry about me. I studied, got great grades, participated at school and stayed out of trouble. For fun, I retreated into books, devouring novel after novel.
I started writing creatively in middle school. My teacher did daily journals and asked some students to read theirs aloud. My journal became a novel that students waited for with anticipation. I can’t remember what the story was about, but I remember I was so proud.
Eventually, I branched off into poetry but that garnered a type of attention I wasn’t used to. Every time I showed my dad poetry, he asked me what was wrong. I now know, I was trying to work through my complicated feelings of grief. But, when a sixth graded gets obsessed with death, it raises some eyebrows.
From then on out, I kept my writing private. I stayed that way until my Sophomore year of college. That year, I took intro to reading and writing poetry with Kathleen Rooney. She ignited my passion for literature, and it’s been burning bright ever since. I now write with her and other poets in Poems While You Wait, I’ve started my own writing collective called Warehouse Writers, gotten published and traveled for readings. Thanks to Kathleen, I’ve found the feeling writing gave me as a kid.

For good or for evil, mine is the voice that shall not be silenced."

Get In Touch

To contact me please email Kailahpeters@gmail.com