Sym·bi·o·sis.  noun \ˌsim-bē-ˈō-səs,\: a cooperative relationship; an intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms. In the Words of Womyn = body of womyn writers.  Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural = transformative arts space & community center.  ITWOW + Tia Chucha’s = symbiosis.  ITWOW began with an experience…a resounding void of womyn voices on the [...]

~Jenuine I’m sitting here lights down low candles all a glow my stomach is churning I’m about to go on stage but not quite yet it is the before music is playing and all I can think about is how much I want to hold your hand I wish you were here These moments that [...]

~Tamara Rettino “A lot can happen to a person in a night. In the age of the social network, it can even happen when you’re sleeping. While you’re rosy cheeked and dreaming about Ryan Gosling rescuing you from a flash flood (you do have that dream, right?), a torrential dialogue can play itself out in [...]

    On Saturday, September 24, 2011 poets all over the globe will be stepping up to microphones in coffee shops, bookstores, cafes, community spaces, living rooms, street corners, and anywhere else people gather to share–in solidarity–our poems about change.  I get chills every time I just think about this event!  Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural [...]

~ L.B.Nelson Mellow-strange it is at first. Choiceless soul enwrapped Within the surreal, fleecy blanket of grey clouds Crocheted loosely. Here-and-there Golden, sun-glow threads Woven throughout; Beautiful-sobering; Oddly serene. Seemingly infinite textile; Dissipates slowly, then scatters; Now-and-then sparkles Left behind. Great mercy While stepping through What is left for us to do.

~Jenuine for some it is a glass of wine to unwind at the end of a stressful day for others a grueling and intense session at the gym to work off steam for some it is headphones in the ears and volume on blast not a second thought spent on the past for others it’s [...]

~Jenuine I am resilient stubborn as a thistle rugged stem protective prickles soft, vibrant, bloom though I may be tossed about by wicked whistling winds I am not easily broken though I may be cut down by sleek sharp slices I am not easily destroyed though I may be ripped out by careless or clumsy [...]

~Jenuine the greatest change begins not with world leaders and heads of state I will not be ruled by hate the most epic transformation occurs not in the spotlight of the world stage I choose to heal the grandest evolution is not what can be seen in the mirrors of the Hubble I will seek [...]

~Jenuine I see you there back of the class on the edge of the field kickin’ rocks as you walk down the street I see you there grown up problems weighin’ down on still boy shoulders I see you there hiding in the bathroom stall mascara runnin’ down your face no words in the language to [...]

~Jenuine I celebrate my sisters who put pen to paper and give sound to our story and volume to our voice creating a collective consciousness unified in the vision of womyn writers and poets and artists and leaders and thinkers and doers I celebrate my mothers who drew lines in the sand stepping out of [...]