INKLING DIEM: A Youth Poetry Jam

A poetry open mic jam celebrating the voices of tomorrow. Join the party.

The closed captions of today deciphered by voices of tomorrow as our youth take center stage at the Triangle Poetry Festival’s Youth Showcase.

Join us as we provide a listening presence and a focused heart for the thoughts, words, and brilliance of Triangle NC’s young creatives. It all begins with an open mic nestled in safe spaces curated by all in attendance, followed by stirring exhibitions of verbal wonderment from two dynamic youth features. This collective pouring promises to illuminate all who have spilled ink in the name of expression.

Inkling Diem, a 2026 Triangle Poetry Festival experience, is part of a full weekend of other great programming at Triangle Poetry Festival, celebrating the artists, the heart-leading advocates, and the movers in the margins. 

Featured Voices: Poetic Justice League

More info about Poetic Justice League

Mili Lopez Secena 

Milagros “Mili” López Secena is a bilingual writer and youth leader whose poetry blends vulnerability with creative strength. Her work explores identity, resilience, and community, transforming personal experience into collective empowerment. Through vivid metaphor and rhythm, she connects science, art, and culture, offering readers both solidarity and inspiration. Recognized for her role as a mentor to younger students, Mili channels her creativity into performance, leadership, and storytelling always seeking to build bridges and spark change.

Ever Harris

Harris is a poetic enthusiast, who always seeks to push herself in her writing and stylistic choices, emphasizing different perspectives and making each piece feel like an entirely unique experience. She writes poems of love, hope, performance, and the human experience in addition to writing “concept poems” with perspectives of characters or historical figures featured instead of her own. Her literary reach expands beyond poetry, as an Assistant Editor-in-Chief of Carrboro High School’s literary magazine: Jagged Lines, and an active journalist for the school newspaper: The Jagwire. 

Gem Marey Punongbayan 

Gem is a professional overthinker with a PhD in “what if’s,” who writes to explore and regulate her own feelings, capturing the depths of human emotion and experimenting with different writing styles while discovering her own unique voice. When she’s not lost in words, she finds joy in baking sweet treats for her family and friends, as well as doing her hair and makeup. During her free time, her fingers dance across guitar strings and piano keys, turning music into thoughts that can’t be put into words. Her goal is to make sure every voice gets noticed, heard, and celebrated.  

Space is limited. Get tickets to Triangle Poetry Festival now.

About the Host:

DS Will

DS is a creative, community leader, and founder of Press Play Poets, dedicated to amplifying voices through creative expression. He was awarded the 2024 Arts in Action Award by the non-profit organization BrainStemology and served as the Department Head of Poetry at The Raleigh Film and Art Festival from 2020 to 2023, where he created initiatives such as Voices2Reel to highlight youth talent.

Triangle Poetry Festival is a Third Angle Poets Production.

About Third Angle Poets at Boxyard RTP:

Founded in 2024, Third Angle Poets is a collective of seasoned arts organizers from across the Triangle. In partnership with Boxyard RTP, Third Angle creates one-of-a-kind interactive events for poets and changemakers to share their voice, hone their craft, and collaborate for social good – including the quarterly Poets’ Playground series and Triangle Poetry Festival. By showcasing poetry, we seek to foster vulnerability and trust. By catalyzing conversations between artists and activists, we help meet the immediate- and long-term needs of our community—while fueling our souls.

Note: By participating in this event, you consent to the recording of your likeness, image, and/or voice and authorize Boxyard RTP to use photographs, video, and audio recordings containing your likeness, image, and/or voice in any medium for any purpose.

Got questions? Send us an email at hello@boxyardrtp.com.