Victoria Ashleigh Rose stumbled upon an Instagram post calling on Niagara artists to submit an original poem for St. Catharines’ inaugural poetry call-out, “Pride in Every Step, Love in Every Action.”

An organizer of St. Catharines Poetry Slam, Rose shared the post online and wrote a poem celebrating love, identity and community — only to realize afterward there was a word limit.

“I had to cut it down and cut it down, which was surprisingly challenging to get the right words, because how do you find the right 25 to 30 words to really capture the full impact of what Pride means to you and what Pride means to a city?” said Rose, who grew up in St. Catharines and attends Brock University.

Her poem, “To Love With Pride,” was selected as part of a special exhibit. Her words were printed on v

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