Tomi Simmons, a poet, spoken-word artist, and 200 hour yoga trained teacher,  shares her personal experience with healing from trauma through her poetry. Tomi has a passion for helping her community and is a nonprofit development professional. She was McPherson College’s first poet laureate in 2019 and served as the president of the writing club where she helped publish creative literary journals, and led virtual and on-campus writing workshops. Simmons has been a featured artist at the Las Vegas Book Festival and at poetry shows in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and California. Her work has been published in McPherson College’s literary journal Inscribe and The Petite Hound Press Issue 42.

​

Today she hosts and organizes Orange County’s only monthly poetry slam, the OC Poetry Slam. 

​

Tomi can be found on Instagram @tsimmswrites and her website tomisimmonspoetry.com.

BUTTERFLY GIRL

​

We met on the corner of the coffee shop and fremont street 

Butterflies in season 

We met in the morning as I woke up in the midst of chemistry textbooks never read and letters to my sister

Cocoons embedded in the blanket and pillows

We met in the mirror between walking past the bathroom and to my mother’s room

 

And here you are

Doe eyed 

Fearful 

Butterflies popping out of you 

You force caterpillars to grow before their cocoons are developed

 

Doe eyed

Butterfly filled

You 

There’s a glisten in your eye  that reflects strength 

As you are me

How could I be afraid of you 

How could you be afraid of me

 

Butterfly girl 

Caterpillar filled 

Let them grow 

Out of all of the times we met 

You never failed me

You hurt me 

when you believe failure is in your capability to me

I failed you for fearing your power

For rushing you 

For not accepting you

And I have let pride go 

To say I am sorry

 

We met on the corner of the coffee shop and fremont street 

You put me on the microphone and spread my wings

You drove me to wake up in the mess of my room and get to my mother’s room

Butterfly girl 

Saved me 

It’s time I started saving you

​

​

WHO I WANT TO BE

​

I want so much for my life

My heart is embedded in this earth

Beating in the water i drink

In the ground i walk on

In the love i show

In the words i reflect

And sometimes i forget

But no worries i always remember

            I want my ability to forgive to conquer the ability to hate

            Especially  within myself

            Mistakes are consistently made

            I tend to put self worth

            At the bottom of the totem pole

            As if i'm the bottom of the pole

I want my ability to love push away fear

Being who I am is constantly a question

As if i need reassurance

As if assurance means love

When fear walks by

I want to say goodbye

            I want empathy over apathy

            Sometimes generosity swallows me whole

            Empathy becomes my blood

            Apathy is one thing i'll always afraid to be

            Because not caring enough

            Is something i can never be

I want acceptance to defeat doubt

As in when they come into the ring

Acceptance is always named champion

No doubt

            I want joy to overshadow distraught

            Because with so much bad

            There's so much good

            We find another everyday

            Connect and reconnect and heal tremendously

I want my voice to outshine the silence I breathe

As in times of when I believe

I speak

            I want my heart to  control the body

            Because too many times

            I overthink

I want my vocabulary to do away with sorry

Because apologies cannot come empty

I want generosity to pass recognition

I lead by example

Not for praise

I want values to delete ignorance

Because my whole life

Values are embedded in my heart

Therefore embedded in my world