“‘A Million Vincents’ was written earlier this year. I was inspired by the idea of seeing Vincent Van Gogh everywhere. I tried to get it published, but went nowhere and abandoned it. I'm not sure whether the problem was with the idea or the execution or the genre. Maybe I'll revisit the idea in fiction...or just leave it alone.

’C.diff’ was based on my experience catching C.diff in hospital last year, during a stem cell transplant for lymphoma. It was supposed to be a surreal take on it, and I really tried to push it. No takers. I don't know whether it was too out there for people. Anyhow, it ended up abandoned and unloved.”

“‘Conversations with my better half’ began as a writing exercise in an advanced poetry class. I was interested in the concept of a poem written in the form of a conversation with a clear back-and-forth, but every time I tried to mess with the formatting of it, I hated it more and more. I submitted it for our in-class workshops, and sharing such intimate and personal work with my classmates made me recede into my shell just a little bit. I never touched it again until now.”

“I didn't give this piece a chance as I think the theme is hazy. When you are writing about life, it gives you endless dimensions to write on. However, I believe if you can define any one of aspects clearly, it does the trick. I felt that I poorly touched on this aspect. “

“It is very short form. Up for interpretation.”

“This was one of my few very early attempts at poetry. It was also one of the very few moments in my life that I have written unbridled and unstructured. I wrote this piece two years ago, and did not hesitate to bin it straight after it was done. I couldn't read it without feeling scalding hot shame for the way my desperation manifested on the page. It is a poem about desire and unrequited wanting. Why was I expecting my desperation to not show? I loved it because it is mine. I loathed it because it was mine. I am thankful to have never emptied my laptop bin.”

“I trashed this piece because I was told by a friend no one will want to read this. It sounds way too feminist and woke, and there are enough poems on the internet covering this issue. However, I wrote this poem because I was angry, when someone close to me suggested women should stop complaining about periods and menopause because we all have to go through it and that’s just the way it is. This poem was written out of pure rage and also to educate those disillusioned people, that we do not suffer the same way, we all struggle on many different levels, so please do not insist we should just put up with it. It is not a weakness, but a strength.”

“This was a love song to my favorite cat who has a bad heart and other health problems although he’s only seven. I didn’t set out to write a poem, just to show my love and grief in words. The piece might be trash, but Perry is a treasure.”

“This was a purely cathartic piece that I didn't deem good enough for publishing simply because of its rambling tendency and the function it served for myself - to put all of this insurmountable feeling onto a page.”

“I originally wrote this poem on a work shift, destined for the person to whom this poem is written for. This self-enforced notion of privacy meant I didn't want to submit this piece, to wave these feelings in the air so brazenly, but maybe, now realising, maybe I can.”

“An eyewitness account. I like the story and the “punchline” very much but feel the expression at times is rather cumbersome.”