Hello! This poetry anthology is written for the 2021 Spring Contemporary Lit Contest. As a senior this year in high school, I have decided to reflect a bit on my high school experience. Throughout the years, I have experienced many ups and downs as well as seen the experiences of those around me. I will be drawing on both to create heartfelt poems that deal with stress, physical and emotional pain, and feeling like you can physically go no further.

These three elements of strength, pain, and stress have inspired the title. Lemon restores energy, Myrrh brings healing, and Lavender eases anxiety. The poems have been separated into the three sections to distinguish between them. While most of the poems will deal with more "sad" poetry, there are some hopeful poems at the end. I have found that the first step in renewing myself physically and mentally is acknowledging my struggles and finding healthy ways of relieving them. I hope that anyone who reads this can do the same. <3

I'm not sure if anything will resonate with you, but I genuinely thank you for reading my poetry just the same. <3