by Paul Halley | 2026 | News & Updates
February 3, 2026
I’m happy to share that three of my poems will be featured in a new anthology, “Poems for a Wish,” published by Hudson Valley Arts Collective.
“Bound by geography rather than subject, this anthology gathers poets from across the Hudson Valley whose work reflects the richness of a shared creative community. Together, these poems form a chorus shaped by shared ground and distinct inner worlds. Published by the Hudson Valley Arts Collective, the collection celebrates poetry as a communal practice rooted in community, collaboration and connection. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Make-A-Wish® Hudson Valley.”
Published by the Hudson Valley Arts Collective, the collection celebrates poetry as a communal practice rooted in community, collaboration and connection.
Three of my poems that are close to my heart will be featured in the anthology: “A Little Boy Walked To The Sky,” “How To Feel a Feeling,” and “For You, With You, Wherever You Are”
You can order a copy of the anthology at Hudson Valley Arts Collective.
by Paul Halley | 2025 | News & Updates
August 30, 2025
I was accepted to a few different Master of Fine Arts programs over the past couple of months. I visited one of the programs earlier this summer, as sort of a trial visit, but it was not a good fit for me. It felt like the goals and outcomes of that program did not fully align with my professional and academic goals, so I chose not to commit. The last program that accepted me (best is always for last) was the Manhattanville MFA program at Manhattanville University in Purchase, NY. It is a multi-genre program, so I can explore a variety of forms, styles, and genres throughout my time in the curriculum. Plus, the courses are in-person and there seems to be a strong literary community at this school.
Mville MFA Fall 2025 Cohort
What makes this opportunity even more special to me is my acceptance to the MFA Teaching Fellowship which will provide me with specialized experience tutoring undergraduate students on-campus at the Academic Writing Center, as well as opportunities to teach sections of College Writing 101 in the undergraduate academic writing program during years 2 & 3. I was also offered a significant funding scholarship which I am very grateful for.
Barat House at Mville is a home for Creative Writing
Thank you to Iain Haley Pollock, the MFA Program Director @ Mville, for accepting me into this program. It feels like a true literary community at this school, one where I can connect with other writers and artists in the local area especially. I am excited to dive into my three courses this upcoming semester: Foundations of Graduate Creative Writing, Teaching and Tutoring Writing, and The Art of Adaptation.
Time to hunker down for a while. To art, to writing, to life! 👏 🙏
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
- Feel everything.
- Observe everything.
- Talk.
- Walk.
- Learn.
- Say nothing at all when what I want to say isn’t very nice.
- Say what I mean, and mean what I say.
- Put on a show, and be the star of it too.
- Say something different when what I want to say isn’t very nice.
- Go as slow as I need to; I’ll make it to the finish line no matter what.
- Write a love poem.
- Fall in love even though they’ll tell me I’m just a kid.
- Stick up for myself in the face of a bully, even if I think they’re right about me.
- Apologize with my whole heart.
- Quit while I’m on top.
- Quit while I’m at the bottom.
- Forgive myself for quitting.
- Unlearn and start over.
- Find a group of friends.
- Fall in love again; unexpectedly, out of nowhere.
- Write an honest love poem.
- Ask for help, take the help.
- Set a goal.
- Climb a mountain.
- Accomplish a goal without telling anyone.
- Lose what I tried so hard to obtain.
- Let it go and move onward, upward.
- Love myself for who I really am, and quit being my own bully.
- Release my secret skeletons, and begin to see real change.
- Love another person better than I could before.
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
I prompted AI with some of my favorite lyrics from Taylor Swift's new album "The Tortured Poets Department." This is what it imagined.
Taylor’s lyrics provoked a visually intimate sense of heartbreak, longing and loss for the
generative AI image tool on the
Photoleap App. Styles used so far include Analog, Film Still, Sketch, Abstract, and more. All links on this page will bring you to Spotify. (Updated 4/19/2024).
And I love you, it’s ruining my life. I love you, it’s ruining my life. I touched you for only a fortnight. I touched you, but I touched you.
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
Tell me something awful, like you are a poet.
I Hate It Here
I feel so high school every time I look at you. I wanna find you in a crowd just to hide from you.
So High School
You left your typewriter at my apartment, straight from the tortured poets department. I think some things I never say, like, “Who uses typewriters anyway?”
The Tortured Poets Department
Lookin’ backwards Might be the only way to move forward
The Manuscript
Just a brink in a wrinkle of time.
So High School
I laughed in your face and said, “You’re not Dylan Thomas, I’m not Patti Smith. This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel, we’rе modern idiots”
The Tortured Poets Department
Beauty is a beast that roars down on all fours demanding more.
Clara Bow
You look like Stevie Nicks / In ’75, the hair and lips / Crowd goes wild at her fingertips / Half moonshine, a full еclipse
Clara Bow
When I picture my hometown, there’s a bronze spray-tanned statue of you. And a plaque underneath it that threatens to push me down the stairs, at our school.
thanK you aIMee
Are you still a mind reader? A natural scene stealer? I’ve heard great things, Peter. But life was always easier on you than it was on me.
Peter
My friends used to play a game where we would pick a decade. We wished we could live in instead of this.
I Hate It Here
Promise to be dazzling
Clara Bow
I saw in my mind ferry lights through the mist. I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift. Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away.
So Long, London
by Paul Halley | 2024 | THOUGHTS
Paul-isms: Things I think about before I go to bed…
- It’s more fun to be curious about what other people do differently than it is to be judgmental.
- Try listening to someone you completely disagree with without speaking or reacting. Ask questions after they speak. There might be a nugget of truth in something they said.
- Memes are like cultural genes: they carry information that determine the traits of our society.
- Most of the time, “I’m sorry” can be replaced with “thank you.”
- When you call a long distance friend or relative, ask about their news before you share yours.
- It is a great feeling to be able to say you did something you never thought you could do; it feels even better to be able to say, ”Now I can do that again.
- Don’t ever reject the blessings that come to you just because you think you don’t deserve them.
- There is a certain kind of ease that comes with being alone.
- Content is king. Knowledge is power. Wisdom is the entire royal castle.
