The first meeting will be Friday, June 14, 6 PM, at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural & Bookstore. Our final meeting will be August 9. (We might not meet Friday, July 5 for the Independence Day holiday. I’ll keep you posted as the date draws closer.)
So! Keep your Fridays open and your pen close, find a pretty journal, read all kinds of poetry and prose, and get ready for a summer of creativity and fun!
I can’t wait to see you all on Friday, June 14 and all summer long!
too long searching
for ways to escape this cocoon
to spread wings wide, no longer hide
my being, my heart, my life.
Aching to find my way home
to this body, through this voice
no more asking permission
to be me, know myself
be at one with destiny.
Today, International Women’s Day
in honor of women born before
in thanks to women here now
I offer a prayer, a divine mandala
color of freedoms and dreams.
Bless this awaited return
to the roots of our sacred knowing
that while our days are numbered
our presence will be counted
in courage bared, in love shared.
For when we stand, live out loud
rescue our trampled souls
we heal the spirit within
to humbly transform, to proudly say
I’ve been a woman.
I marvel at how
ever since I was
somethingteen
my life has been
p u n c t u a t e d
by this cycle
this ritual
this
period
.
without even asking my permission
it began to define me
“You are now
a woman”
period
.
but I was still
just a girl
and all the
bleeding
and aching
and rending of
flesh
from
flesh
all the
sloughing off of skin
shedding of the old womb
the unused womb
just felt gross
period
.
not noble
not earthywisegoddess
just awkward
period
.
terrified of that
ill-fated day
when
doom-of-all-doom
tampon would overflow
pad would overflow
panties
onto
pants
bleeding into
public view
nightmare
mortification
I hate this
period
.
but this will define me
I am now woman
I am creator
life-giver
identity in motherhood
those who may be birthed of
my loins
will validate me
mother
woman
period
.
what if I mother in other ways
than conceiving
and delivering
from my
womb?
what if I call those ones
children
who
of my flesh were not born
but to my soul
are eternally knit?
what if my mind
is more fertile
than my
uterus?
what if poems
and programs
and
transforming community
are my offspring?
period
.
am I still a woman?
and if I don’t think it
beautiful
or
magical
that my insides
twist
and
wrench
while
flesh
tears from
flesh
while I still deliver reports
compile data
network and visioneer
unflinching
am I still a woman?
these seasons are a part of me
winter
spring
summer
and
autumn
cycling through my body
through my soul
every 28 days
period
.
woman is who I am
period
.
blood
and
softness
and
compassion
and
nurturing
and
fierce
and
intuition
and
tender
and
strong
and
wound
and
create
and
conceive
and
labor
and
agony
and
empathy
By the end of the spring session in April, we hope to publish a booklet of ITWOW poetry/prose/fiction/words! This is an new, exciting venture for us, and we need your wonderful words!
Feel free to submit poems, essays, short fiction pieces (less than 1000 words), etc. You may submit as many as you like. However, if you submit more than one piece, there is no guarantee everything you submitted will be included.
The deadline for submission is April 19 (subject to change).
So, write your heart out and email your best work to itwow.sfv [at] gmail [dot] com!
If you haven’t been able to sleep since the holidays, always asking yourself, “When does ITWOW start?” then this announcement is for you!
I am pleased to announce In The Words of Womyn, spring 2013 will begin Friday, February 8, at 6 PM at Tia Chucha’s! We will continue for 11-12 weeks with an end date of Friday, April 26. We might have a week off to observe Spring Break; I will let you know once the date(s) draw closer. Bring a friend, spread the word, bust out your paper and pen, and let’s get creative!
For more ITWOW news, stay tuned to this website, or email itwow.sfv [at] gmail [dot] com.
I am so so SO thrilled to announce the launch of a brand new sister chapter of ITWOW located in Waco, Texas! Beginning on Monday, January 14, 2013 HOT~ITWOW (Heart of Texas) will continue the mission to empower womyn writers of all ages, levels, and genres to give sound to our story and volume to our voice!
Founded in January 2010 in Sylmar, CA, In the Words of Womyn was born out of a vision to empower womyn of the NE San Fernando Valley community to step up to the mic, to own their identities as writers, and to grow in confidence of their own talents and strengths through the practice and performance of written and spoken-word. With the support of Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural Jenuine founded and facilitated weekly writing circles in 10-week sessions for three years reaching over 100 womyn writers throughout Los Angeles county.
ITWOW ~ SFV empowers womyn by making space and increasing opportunities for writers to perform at such events as Tia Chucha’s weekly open mic & quarterly Womyn’s Words & Music Night 2011; Celebrating Words Festival 2011 and 2012; Dia de los Muertos 2011; Tia Chucha’s Anniversary Celebration 2011 and 2012; MEND’s Project Glamour 2012; and to have work published in Rushing Waters, Rising Dreams as well as appear in a documentary of the same name. Thanks to the tireless work of Alex Hohmann, ITWOW ~ SFV continues to empower womyn to give sound to our story and volume to our voice!
Jenuine is thrilled to bring her passion and her experience to Central Texas and looks forward to building community, learning from, and writing with womyn in the Heart of Texas.
It seems like our last session just ended, but luckily a new one is starting quite soon!
I am pleased to announce In The Words of Womyn, fall 2012 at Tia Chucha’s will begin Friday, October 5th, at 6 PM. We will continue for about 10 weeks with an end date of Friday, December 14. Bring a friend, spread the word, bust out your paper and pen, and let’s get creative!
However, because the fall can become a little tricky with so many holidays, ITWOW WILL NOT MEET Friday November 2 (I have a prior commitment) and Friday, November 23 (it interferes with the Thanksgiving holiday).
For more ITWOW news, stay tuned to this website, or email itwow.sfv [at] gmail [dot] com.
I am so excited to announce that a new chapter of In the Words of Womyn will be coming soon to the Heart of Texas! Please stay tuned here for more details about the dates and location.
