Angie Aker

Kenosha Poet Laureate 2011-2013

Angie Aker, born and raised in Kenosha County, has made a life and living out of an intense desire to create positive change. She's a domestic abuse survivor--many of her writings are shared to shine a light for others. She's a managing editor, activist, and of course, a writer. Angie lives in Kenosha with her crazy-awesome kids, Axel and Gigi, and their Shih Tzu, Buffybot. Yes, she's the same Angie Aker from the cover of the NY Post.
In 2018, she organized the Perseverance through Poetry Award reception to honor poet Daniel Scheidell, who was exonerated after spending 20 years in prison on a wrongful conviction. During his time of incarceration, he led a program, Prose & Cons, to help him and other inmates process their trauma and tribulations. 

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The Parts to Keep

by Angie Aker

I took a hammer to my brittle Self
And watched – horrified, mesmerized – the shards scatter and bounce.
A crystalline atomization of Ego,
Leaving alone anything with an ounce of grace and give, there on the sidewalk.
I wandered amongst them
– crunch, crunch, crunch,
The spent fragments of a me that never mattered puffed to glass powder under my shoes –
Looking for keepers I could fashion together
Into something Else
Into someone New.
But my eyes grew tired
And forgot how to see.
You walked up next to me a stranger
And watched me pretend to work.
Every piece I meant to leave
You held in the light and showed me
How it shines.