I write poetry the way a heron hunts for fish. Alone, methodically, with elegance and precision. Occasionally joining up with others when I need to fill my social battery, but happy to live life solitary. My words are my sustenance. My words fulfill me.
I write poems because I enjoy playing with language, form, punctuation, and images more than I do creating a character and a plot. A poem gives me the space to explore a place or character without the dedication to a story arc. A poem gives me the space to explore an emotion without the baggage of world-building. A poem is short, easily poured out in a single sitting to then bathe in editing for weeks.
Poems are my friends in a world where (I have discovered) friendship is so very transient. I have had fifteen-year-long friendships fizzle out in a single day, often taking me by surprise. People are fickle. Words are permanent — or at least, as permanent as my life. They will be there long after the rest of my loved ones leave. I learned that young, when my father committed suicide right as I reached puberty. The words I wrote in response to the pain are still with me. I can rely on them, at least.
I choose to share certain poems in the hope that someone can find comfort in relating. Someone who perhaps doesn’t feel they are creative or have a talent with word-crafting can read my grief, love, or desperation and see themselves in the verbal painting. I hope you find what you are looking for here.
I write from my home on the outskirts of the Great Dismal Swamp, where my lonely crone spirit haunts the cypress trees and sings softly to the moon — though my husband (bless him) would prefer I finish my tea first. And feed the cats.
My poems have been featured in the 2025 anthology The Heart of Pride II published by QuillKeepers Press, the 2023 Valentine’s Day anthology Smitten published by QuillKeepers Press, as well as The Poet’s Haven Digest and Arlington Literary Journal. I typically write about love, loyalty, passion, loneliness, depression, grief, and rebellion using metaphors of nature and myth.
I delved into social commentary with my 2021 book of childfree poems and essays, Nulligravida (the medical term for a uterus that has never been pregnant). The book was written for my own catharsis as well as support for other childfree people, sick of being patronized in daily conversations. In January 2025 I released a follow-up collection, Sweet Childfree, containing both my personal favorites from Nulligravida and a bunch of new pieces.
I have been known to play with numerous poetic forms including acrostic, villanelle, free verse, narrative, pantoum, sestina, cinquain, tanka, and the Spanish shadorma. The French triolet has become my go-to when writer’s block strikes.
I’m inspired by Sara Teasdale, Rainer Maria Rilke, Theodora Goss, Mary Oliver, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
I prefer a 0.38mm ultra fine point pen. It’s perfect for adding in Oxford commas.
You can find me on Instagram @childfree_poet and on allpoetry.com
Debut poetry collection, Magic & Mayhem, available here!
Excerpts
We timid perching birds shall make you
“Witch Hunt,” Saralyn Caine
devils dash your feet on jagged quartz
crumbs littering the forest floor,
for Hansel and Gretel taught us how.
Despite God-fearing words I claim to know,
“The Mask is a Lie,” Saralyn Caine
Inside there exists a circus show,
A confused hypnosis, and a menaced crow.
Dewdrops on lightning bulbs
“Electrocute My Blood,” Saralyn Caine
awaken a lively respite on my tongue,
invigorate pulsars and sparking electric
dandelions on my throat ceiling.
Saralyn Caine Poetry 