Brittany N. Nelson

My name is Brittany Nelson, but I go by Brit La Poeta (the poet) or by the nickname I had in high school, Miss Poetry.

I've been writing poetry since I was 10 years old in fifth grade. I was never the kid that fit in with anyone, so poetry became my “friend.” My family has always been a huge support of my writing and often inspired many of my poems. My fifth-grade teacher Ms. Grysch encouraged me to continue to write after she read one of my projects for her class. She said I was good at it. That was one of the reasons I stuck with it at that time.

Later on in life though, I wrote more so to express the feelings it was hard to explain in conversation but came easier when I wrote them down. It was an outlet for me, like a form of creative therapy, especially since I was the nerdy girl in school with the big nose, round glasses, and acne. I could vent in my writing. I had the freedom to be angry, sad, depressed, heartbroken, and happy on my own terms and in my own words. Poetry was my way of telling people how I felt without ever having to talk to them. It was my secret world that I only shared with a few people. My words were sacred to me. I wasn’t the type to write because someone wanted to hear something; I wanted to be inspired. I wanted to write because I felt something, not because someone demanded words from me. That’s why it wasn't until later on when I started sharing more of my work because I became more confident in my writing. I was more open to sharing my thoughts despite criticism because no matter what anyone else thought, those words were mine and those feelings were real and needed to be said.

I'm still learning, processing, honing, and crafting my skills each day. Many poetic and musical artists have in some way, shape, or form, specifically contributed to my creative writing process, and have helped me become a more well-rounded poet and writer. Music in general has been such a huge influence on me. In my opinion, music is just poetry with a beat or rhythm to it. Sometimes poetry is sung, and sometimes it's rapped, but at the end of the day those words begin in a notebook or on a piece of paper.

All those late nights that I jump up out of bed to write down a rhyme or poem, so I don’t forget have become some of the very poems that are in my book, “My Pain Speaks Fluent Poetry.”

I hope you take the time to read it, and I appreciate anyone who opens their eyes and hearts to mine.