Amy Saul-Zerby
@amysz.bsky.social
author: Choose Your Own Beginning, Deep Camouflage, & Paper Flowers, Imaginary Birds
eic: @voicemailpoems.bsky.social
marketing + development: @FreeBooksProject.bsky.social
amysaulzerby.com
eic: @voicemailpoems.bsky.social
marketing + development: @FreeBooksProject.bsky.social
amysaulzerby.com
Pinned
Amy Saul-Zerby
@amysz.bsky.social
· Nov 15
a quick intro 'cause i'm new here! 🤓
I'm a poet with two collections published by Be About It Press 💜 & one with the late CCM ☠️😬
I write about mental health, generational trauma & love
I've been working on @voicemailpoems.bsky.social for ten years & been E.I.C. for six
more at amysaulzerby.com!
I'm a poet with two collections published by Be About It Press 💜 & one with the late CCM ☠️😬
I write about mental health, generational trauma & love
I've been working on @voicemailpoems.bsky.social for ten years & been E.I.C. for six
more at amysaulzerby.com!
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“I wanted heaven
But space spat me out.
I heard earth girls are easy.
I’m so easy I only learned how to fight
Back last week. I didn’t win.
But I cured my depression
By making the bed!”
- Jamie Hood (@veryhotmomm.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/m...
But space spat me out.
I heard earth girls are easy.
I’m so easy I only learned how to fight
Back last week. I didn’t win.
But I cured my depression
By making the bed!”
- Jamie Hood (@veryhotmomm.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/m...
November 13, 2025 at 3:33 PM
“I wanted heaven
But space spat me out.
I heard earth girls are easy.
I’m so easy I only learned how to fight
Back last week. I didn’t win.
But I cured my depression
By making the bed!”
- Jamie Hood (@veryhotmomm.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/m...
But space spat me out.
I heard earth girls are easy.
I’m so easy I only learned how to fight
Back last week. I didn’t win.
But I cured my depression
By making the bed!”
- Jamie Hood (@veryhotmomm.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/m...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“Why, even when / I am so quiet, and so good, can I not catch a fish? Why did you die, when / you knew every psalm by heart and every benefit of witch hazel? / Do you ever feel like July has forgotten your name?"
- Lauren Mills
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
- Lauren Mills
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
November 12, 2025 at 6:01 PM
“Why, even when / I am so quiet, and so good, can I not catch a fish? Why did you die, when / you knew every psalm by heart and every benefit of witch hazel? / Do you ever feel like July has forgotten your name?"
- Lauren Mills
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
- Lauren Mills
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“Solidarity is pissing / in adjacent stalls. / A godly marriage / is a throuple with / Christ.”
- Alexa Vallejo
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
- Alexa Vallejo
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
November 11, 2025 at 5:04 PM
“Solidarity is pissing / in adjacent stalls. / A godly marriage / is a throuple with / Christ.”
- Alexa Vallejo
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
- Alexa Vallejo
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/l...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“My thoughts have value even if no one reflects on them. / These mountains scrape the sky even after the sun dips behind them, / the gardens keep growing in darkness even after the dykes who dressed up for the art have / wandered out.”
- Juniper Danger
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/t...
- Juniper Danger
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/t...
November 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
“My thoughts have value even if no one reflects on them. / These mountains scrape the sky even after the sun dips behind them, / the gardens keep growing in darkness even after the dykes who dressed up for the art have / wandered out.”
- Juniper Danger
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/t...
- Juniper Danger
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/t...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“I’m wondering how best to preserve / this day when I find myself summoned / outside into the warming light”
- John Muro
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/b...
- John Muro
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/b...
November 9, 2025 at 6:31 PM
“I’m wondering how best to preserve / this day when I find myself summoned / outside into the warming light”
- John Muro
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/b...
- John Muro
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/b...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“the loss we talk about / it doesn’t heal”
- Chiara Crisafulli, “4-tongue poem”
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/4...
- Chiara Crisafulli, “4-tongue poem”
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/4...
November 8, 2025 at 6:15 PM
“the loss we talk about / it doesn’t heal”
- Chiara Crisafulli, “4-tongue poem”
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/4...
- Chiara Crisafulli, “4-tongue poem”
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/4...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
🍁 fall issue's up! 🍁
ft. @veryhotmomm.bsky.social, @jennacardinale.bsky.social, @aporianautics.bsky.social, @c-late.bsky.social, & more!
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/f...
ft. @veryhotmomm.bsky.social, @jennacardinale.bsky.social, @aporianautics.bsky.social, @c-late.bsky.social, & more!
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/f...
November 7, 2025 at 5:41 PM
🍁 fall issue's up! 🍁
ft. @veryhotmomm.bsky.social, @jennacardinale.bsky.social, @aporianautics.bsky.social, @c-late.bsky.social, & more!
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/f...
ft. @veryhotmomm.bsky.social, @jennacardinale.bsky.social, @aporianautics.bsky.social, @c-late.bsky.social, & more!
voicemailpoems.org/2025/11/07/f...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
last call for submissions for our fall issue! ⌛️ call & send in a poem by midnight pacific time to be considered ✨
we are currently accepting submissions for our FALL 2025 issue, & we'd love to hear from you! ✨🍁✨
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
October 1, 2025 at 12:30 PM
last call for submissions for our fall issue! ⌛️ call & send in a poem by midnight pacific time to be considered ✨
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
one week left to submit! ⌛️ send us a poem 👻
we are currently accepting submissions for our FALL 2025 issue, & we'd love to hear from you! ✨🍁✨
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
September 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM
one week left to submit! ⌛️ send us a poem 👻
hosting for @moonstonearts.bsky.social tomorrow at Fergie's Pub! ✍️🎉 thrilled that our featured poets are Michael Joseph Walsh & Ebs Sanders 🙌
come hang 🤙 bring a poem for the open mic if you want! 🩷
come hang 🤙 bring a poem for the open mic if you want! 🩷
September 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM
hosting for @moonstonearts.bsky.social tomorrow at Fergie's Pub! ✍️🎉 thrilled that our featured poets are Michael Joseph Walsh & Ebs Sanders 🙌
come hang 🤙 bring a poem for the open mic if you want! 🩷
come hang 🤙 bring a poem for the open mic if you want! 🩷
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
Through our Pop-Up Libraries, Book Arks, and Free Book Shelves, we’ve been distributing between eight to ten thousand (!) books per month 📚✨
Due to the overwhelming demand for books, we are seeking donations to help us continue to stock our arks, shelves, and tables.
Due to the overwhelming demand for books, we are seeking donations to help us continue to stock our arks, shelves, and tables.
September 23, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Through our Pop-Up Libraries, Book Arks, and Free Book Shelves, we’ve been distributing between eight to ten thousand (!) books per month 📚✨
Due to the overwhelming demand for books, we are seeking donations to help us continue to stock our arks, shelves, and tables.
Due to the overwhelming demand for books, we are seeking donations to help us continue to stock our arks, shelves, and tables.
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
September 22, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“But dawn,
Because you hid behind the horizon
torches blazed, blinding,
breaking sleep and families
as parents were taken from screaming kids
to be jailed then charged then sent back to the islands
Dawn,
because you were silent,
because all murmurings were silenced.”
- @kakapowhakatoi.bsky.social
Because you hid behind the horizon
torches blazed, blinding,
breaking sleep and families
as parents were taken from screaming kids
to be jailed then charged then sent back to the islands
Dawn,
because you were silent,
because all murmurings were silenced.”
- @kakapowhakatoi.bsky.social
September 17, 2025 at 1:53 PM
“But dawn,
Because you hid behind the horizon
torches blazed, blinding,
breaking sleep and families
as parents were taken from screaming kids
to be jailed then charged then sent back to the islands
Dawn,
because you were silent,
because all murmurings were silenced.”
- @kakapowhakatoi.bsky.social
Because you hid behind the horizon
torches blazed, blinding,
breaking sleep and families
as parents were taken from screaming kids
to be jailed then charged then sent back to the islands
Dawn,
because you were silent,
because all murmurings were silenced.”
- @kakapowhakatoi.bsky.social
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
two more weeks to submit! ⌛️ send us a poem 🎃
we are currently accepting submissions for our FALL 2025 issue, & we'd love to hear from you! ✨🍁✨
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
September 17, 2025 at 1:10 PM
two more weeks to submit! ⌛️ send us a poem 🎃
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“My neighbor listens patiently, amused by my young life.
We’re the only Black gay men in our building,
so he has me over for Sunday tea. I fill our cups.
For the heart, he says, adding whiskey to his.”
- Derrick Austin (@paradiselaust.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
We’re the only Black gay men in our building,
so he has me over for Sunday tea. I fill our cups.
For the heart, he says, adding whiskey to his.”
- Derrick Austin (@paradiselaust.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
September 16, 2025 at 2:28 PM
“My neighbor listens patiently, amused by my young life.
We’re the only Black gay men in our building,
so he has me over for Sunday tea. I fill our cups.
For the heart, he says, adding whiskey to his.”
- Derrick Austin (@paradiselaust.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
We’re the only Black gay men in our building,
so he has me over for Sunday tea. I fill our cups.
For the heart, he says, adding whiskey to his.”
- Derrick Austin (@paradiselaust.bsky.social)
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“sometimes at 10:37pm you need to change your life / so you do the next best thing / and you cut your hair”
- Sarena Brown
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
- Sarena Brown
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
September 9, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“sometimes at 10:37pm you need to change your life / so you do the next best thing / and you cut your hair”
- Sarena Brown
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
- Sarena Brown
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/s...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
we are currently accepting submissions for our FALL 2025 issue, & we'd love to hear from you! ✨🍁✨
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
September 4, 2025 at 8:45 PM
we are currently accepting submissions for our FALL 2025 issue, & we'd love to hear from you! ✨🍁✨
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
voicemailpoems.org/submit
🧡 deadline october 1st 🧡
one sweet thing about my job is that sometimes i get to give free books to lovely families at a backpack giveaway in a local church, and it warms my heart
We had a great time giving away books at the Historic Macedonia AME Church’s “Back 2 School Event”! 📚✨
Thank you so much to Reverend Dr. Tiffany Malone for the invitation, and to the kind folks who stopped by our table 🙏
Thank you so much to Reverend Dr. Tiffany Malone for the invitation, and to the kind folks who stopped by our table 🙏
August 31, 2025 at 4:21 PM
one sweet thing about my job is that sometimes i get to give free books to lovely families at a backpack giveaway in a local church, and it warms my heart
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“There was happiness in 1930s Germany and at the end of Rome, too."
- Jill McLaughlin
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/p...
- Jill McLaughlin
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/p...
August 31, 2025 at 3:55 PM
“There was happiness in 1930s Germany and at the end of Rome, too."
- Jill McLaughlin
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/p...
- Jill McLaughlin
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/p...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“we talked about the final moment
and how I might not make it
(I did, he waited)
we talked about how a summer would never
be enough time, as the days stretched out
my son, his namesake, waited in the cherry tree”
- Annie Powell Stone
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/m...
and how I might not make it
(I did, he waited)
we talked about how a summer would never
be enough time, as the days stretched out
my son, his namesake, waited in the cherry tree”
- Annie Powell Stone
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/m...
August 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
“we talked about the final moment
and how I might not make it
(I did, he waited)
we talked about how a summer would never
be enough time, as the days stretched out
my son, his namesake, waited in the cherry tree”
- Annie Powell Stone
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/m...
and how I might not make it
(I did, he waited)
we talked about how a summer would never
be enough time, as the days stretched out
my son, his namesake, waited in the cherry tree”
- Annie Powell Stone
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/m...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
"Let's say,
This is for me.
This is because I want.
This is because I exist.
This is because I take up space,
as much as I want, & more,
& I survive despite your best efforts
to tamp me down,
& I will fucking wear my defiance
like a punch to the gut"
- Maia Brown-Jackson (@andyetpoetry.bsky.social)
This is for me.
This is because I want.
This is because I exist.
This is because I take up space,
as much as I want, & more,
& I survive despite your best efforts
to tamp me down,
& I will fucking wear my defiance
like a punch to the gut"
- Maia Brown-Jackson (@andyetpoetry.bsky.social)
August 24, 2025 at 7:49 PM
"Let's say,
This is for me.
This is because I want.
This is because I exist.
This is because I take up space,
as much as I want, & more,
& I survive despite your best efforts
to tamp me down,
& I will fucking wear my defiance
like a punch to the gut"
- Maia Brown-Jackson (@andyetpoetry.bsky.social)
This is for me.
This is because I want.
This is because I exist.
This is because I take up space,
as much as I want, & more,
& I survive despite your best efforts
to tamp me down,
& I will fucking wear my defiance
like a punch to the gut"
- Maia Brown-Jackson (@andyetpoetry.bsky.social)
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“On Fridays, management makes movie popcorn
to celebrate the end of the week.
Why are we always so hungry?
The smell of fake butter is rich.
We follow it. We eat.”
- Jaime Jacques
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/k...
to celebrate the end of the week.
Why are we always so hungry?
The smell of fake butter is rich.
We follow it. We eat.”
- Jaime Jacques
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/k...
August 21, 2025 at 4:28 PM
“On Fridays, management makes movie popcorn
to celebrate the end of the week.
Why are we always so hungry?
The smell of fake butter is rich.
We follow it. We eat.”
- Jaime Jacques
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/k...
to celebrate the end of the week.
Why are we always so hungry?
The smell of fake butter is rich.
We follow it. We eat.”
- Jaime Jacques
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/k...
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“the olive jar says you should take only nine, yet seventeen have passed through your teeth. it is okay. it will all, one day, be okay.”
- Annabelle Chen
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/g...
- Annabelle Chen
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/g...
August 20, 2025 at 5:38 PM
“the olive jar says you should take only nine, yet seventeen have passed through your teeth. it is okay. it will all, one day, be okay.”
- Annabelle Chen
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/g...
- Annabelle Chen
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/g...
any presses accepting full-length poetry manuscript submissions?
August 19, 2025 at 4:06 PM
any presses accepting full-length poetry manuscript submissions?
Reposted by Amy Saul-Zerby
“Lake Berryessa, azure at our backs / the man from / Toluca slips me / lozenges from under his tongue / Spanish alive / in my mouth”
- Tatiana Chaterji
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/f...
- Tatiana Chaterji
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/f...
August 19, 2025 at 3:32 PM
“Lake Berryessa, azure at our backs / the man from / Toluca slips me / lozenges from under his tongue / Spanish alive / in my mouth”
- Tatiana Chaterji
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/f...
- Tatiana Chaterji
voicemailpoems.org/2025/08/14/f...