Writing
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." ~ Maya Angelou
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Shelley used her free time to write poetry to help process her emotions as she reflected and unpacked her adoptee identity. She is currently working on a poetry book which she hopes to publish in the next year so she can share her story more widely. Below are a couple of her poems which have already been published. She has also shared some of her poetry at open mic nights.
Written during National Adoption Awareness Month (NAAM) in 2019, this piece is the first poem she wrote about her feelings and experiences surrounding her adoption.
In 2019, was published in the McMaster Unspoken third anthology, which you can find here.
In 2023, it was published as a chapter opener in the 2nd Canadian Edition of "The Essentials of Lifespan Development" textbook.
She wrote the poem, "To My Younger Self" in the Fall of 2020. It was featured on CCI's Instagram account for World Poetry Day 2022. Credit for the graphics goes to Joy Lin Arness, CCI's Visual Designer.