Congratulations to milwaukee's 2025-2026 poet laureate, Shelly Conley!
Excerpts from Shelly's work
Track 2 from Rewind
Your journey is likened to the journey of a diamond. Much like a diamond, people admire you. Rarely considering that diamonds cultivate in dark. dirty mines, grow in high temperatures under immense pressure. You know pressure and darkness all to well.
Poem:Sistas separated
"Can you imagine this world, if we dared to be on one accord? How quick our world would soar? See our women from the beginning of time have held together lifelines. Guided our families, fought back through tragedies. We've carried babies to see incarcerated daddies, held schooling, work & been mommies all at the same time. Created meals when there was nothing in the cupboard. Cried a river of tears and kept going, consoling babies, fathers & mothers. Been crutches to so many others in our lives and if we tried, I know we could own at least half this universe with our strong minds, our strong will and our determination!!!"
Track 2 from rewind
"The little girl in me is still scared of rejection or ridicule so she pulls back, retreats to safety which generally is alone, secluded, unreachable. Today I want her to know she's safe."
Let Shelly help bring your story to life
PERSONALIZED POEMS
Surprise your family and friends with a personalized poem written for birthdays, weddings and more. Book now to schedule a one on one meeting to discuss your favorite memories and details. From there, Shelly will create a one of a kind poem for you, to be printed and/or performed. You will get lots of points for this one!
biographical books
Want to tell your life story but not confident in your writing skills? Shelly can be a consultant or the author of your biography.
"If you are silent about your pain, they'll kill you and say you enjoyed it."~Zora Neale Hurston
"I believe we are born as a story and while we have free will to decide what chapters come to life, the closer we stay to God's plan the more powerful and fulfilling the story will become." ~A. Shelly Conley