What We Hold On To brings together voices navigating grief, uncertainty, love, resistance, and the daily work of staying human. Created as a shared space for reflection and resilience, this collection gathers poets writing from lived experience—illness, parenthood, anxiety, joy, protest, and hope.
In uncertain times such as these, these poems do not offer easy answers. Instead, they linger in kitchens and bedrooms, in quiet moments and hard conversations, in the small rituals that help us keep going when the world feels unsteady.
Through witness and tenderness, humor and resolve, this collection traces the ways we cope, connect, and carry on—together.
You can scroll down and read the entire book right here on this page. Each page is displayed in order, just like a physical book. If you prefer, you can also download a high-quality PDF using the button below.
Just like our first book, this free digital edition is made available by the publisher for non-commercial use and may be shared or reposted on websites, blogs, syllabi, social media, or digital libraries, provided it remains unaltered and properly credited.
Individual poems may also be shared or quoted, as long as the original author is credited. If a poem was first published here, we’d appreciate a link back to this page.
All authors retain the rights to their individual work.
Paperback Edition Available
The paperback edition of What We Hold On To is now available to order through major retailers and independent bookstores. Ordering information is listed below.
The print edition is priced to keep the book accessible while covering printing and distribution costs. As always, the full book remains free to read and download here.
Whether you read it on the site, download the PDF, or choose a physical copy, we’re grateful you’re spending time with the work and helping it find its way to others.
Without further ado, we present the latest collection from The Chaos Section Poetry Project: What We Hold On To: Poems of Coping, Connection, and Carrying On
Explicit Liber
The Chaos Section Poetry Project 