Project: PoeTRY

Images

Description

I am a local poet writing on topic of shame, longing and hope. The personal, metaphysical and societal are all important to me. I began writing in March 2025 after discovering letters from a boy from high school times who asked me how I was and told me how sad he was about what had happened to me. Except, I had blocked that out. And there I was, 30+ years later, shaking. Though it was no horrendous tale, only the sad trope of being groomed by a youth pastor for twisted weekend, it opened a floodgate in me and I began to journal, which quickly became poetry (my training is in Eurythmy, a language/music movement art from the work of Rudolf Steiner). I began to play with the role of POET, I played with the word POETRY, first as POETry then PoeTRY. (see photos)

For example, the triumphant ending of my poem Maiden Flight, about the grooming. This is from my first collection: PoeTRY of an Incel Woman:

I am no longer a creature to be toyed with,

as I emerge this time, shivering as I unfold,

I no longer need the sun to warm my wings

I bring with me my own light,

And can take flight.

What them to do with this? Art no longer has monetary value in the world. Words are stolen. Cracking the academic world is a lifelong calling. Perhaps I get lucky! So I keep submitting work and showing up for my art form at open mics, I have recorded my work for online platforms etc... Ultimately, I see the #hyperlocal work that I do to be the most important and will always volunteer as a life-long educator and human within society, but I would still like to brand myself within that so that the world sees that I am trying and offer a product collection for in person and online sales.

In the following text boxes, I have gone into some detail about how/what I am hoping to do and also timelines for ROI.

How will this loan be used? Please provide an itemized list of expenses that will be covered.

Description: The loan would be used to commission a local designer to create typography to be used for PoeTRY products. If there was sufficient money after paying for this service, then I would also use funds to cover manufacture and printing costs.

A stamp (for poems created on demand and instant poems which I write with children in real time - see photos).

An online 'stamp' for social media and other places as a trademark is needed.

Typography styling that would convert to products for sale, such as postcards/stickers/bookmarks/fabric products with samples of PoeTRY that I have written.

For example, this section from my poem, Canary, from my collection, PoeTRY of a White Legal Immigrant. Canary is about the materialism of education, religion and society:

"We failed to see that greed

now claws its ugly fingers

no longer toward

gold alone,

but to

the groin,

the head,

the heart,

ready to devour

all that is creative,

all that feeds our human art. "

I will need to test out different topics/moods to see which were the most marketable. Also, which format is most marketable (postcards, stickers, bookmarks, bags etc...) I am currently working on my next collection (working title: PoeTRY of a Soiled 8.5x11) with a deadline of 10/31. I anticipate this collection speaking strongly to women and a way for people to share sexual grief. It is emerging as groupings of affirmations for self/platonic and masculine/feminine on topics of sexual healing/shame transformation interwoven with poetry on the inner dialogue of the trauma of accepting an HSVII diagnosis and 'wholeness' fantasy, which many people with 'incurable' diseases suffer with. For example, from my Villanelle, This Illness Kept My Body in a Trance:

I seek to join creation in the dance,

To share myself completely as a muse.

This illness kept my body in a trance,

I choose me as my ultimate romance.

How will your project generate money?

As outlined in other areas in this document, I anticipate sales of physical products (postcards, stickers, clothing, bags, posters etc....) I would need to get together a list of costs/profit margin on different products to answer this question fully. Please let me know the level of detail needed at this stage.

Here is an example of a current affirmation of safety that I developed for myself. There is a market for affirmations and challenging the current gender wars is an important element of my work:

Men Protect Me
Women Support Me
Children Trust Me
I Trust Myself

When do you expect to be able to repay this loan?

Assuming funding was in November, it would be hard to be ready for the 2026 Holiday Season, which is the primary season for sales in gifts, a substantial element of sales for this type of product. I would anticipate having a product line by Valentines Day and be fully tested and running by the Fall-Holiday Season. Online trademark and in person stamping would be used immediately and running alongside that, but would not result in sales (Poetry on Demand is suggested donation for our local writing group) Given a rough ratio of 50/50 cost/profit for this scenario (I would be happy to investigate this further if needed at this stage) I would anticipate needing 2 prime seasons to recoup costs, that is to say, repaying half of the loan by 11/2027 and the remainder in the year following. Building up an online and in person/local partnership circle, would also take around 12-18mths.

Do you have experience or support that will help this project succeed? Links to your previous work are helpful here.

Though my background is in education, I am not unfamiliar with entrepreneurship and commerce. I worked part-time for Pier One Imports as a manager for 18 months (whilst teaching part-time 2010-12) which familiarized me with marketing patterns and annual rhythms of spending. I was also part of the leadership of the student silk scarf production collective for Eurythmy Spring Valley (my alma mater), where we volunteered to paint, dye, tag and inventory/track sales of silk products in order to create income for the scholarship fund. I volunteered in production for one year and ran that for 1 year, with around $9,000 a year of income. Upon graduating I then ran my own silk scarf business as a side gig for one year, bringing in around $2,000. More recently, I had my own LLC to house my part-time work as a Homeschool Enrichment Teacher. This was more of a traditional educational consulting type set-up with me being paid for work and running that thru the LLC with costs etc... Never-the-less it involved a lot of marketing, customer service (parent outreach and retention) and brand responsibility. All good practice and exposure to social media and markets. I have archived the social media pages for my educational initiative (Honeysuckle Hedge Collective and Red Oak Elementary Enrichment) but can provide references and images/work on request. You can find my current local Muncie Poetry Board Project here https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579488483793

Will generative AI be used in this project's outcomes, such as generated images, videos, music, speech, or text? If so, how will it be used?

No! Ai will not be used.