Notes From the Margins

In N Out and Trauma Writing Group

This offering are group poems written by the In N Out and Trauma Writing Group in Spring 2026

This semester we wrote poems in the theme of the body—each week we wrote about a different body part.

These are the uniquely inspired poems for this Spring

Poem 4 – The Belly

The following poem is about the belly, which is not just for digesting food. The belly is where we “feel” things, gut things, things that then travel up to our brain to be deciphered. The belly is where we can ache without meaning to, without being intentional about it—it just happens. It happens when we have swallowed just about enough that we can take. It happens when we are fearful, jumpy, disgruntled, and perplexed. We can keep it there or we can try to let it go.

I breathe in deep, feeling the glass shards as they sink in deeper,

Leaving me breathless in a state of despair.

What do I do with this despair—I don’t want to carry it in my belly.

I plan to sing, to dance, and shake my belly like jelly