Posted on September 24, 2012 by
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.
The vision is blooming; the dream is becoming!
Posted on October 16, 2011 by
Dear Self,
Remember that one time, you were biking up a huge hill and you just kept telling yourself, “Slow and steady, slow and steady, just keep pedaling slow and steady and you *will* make it!” And remember how you decided to adopt that mantra in your life to keep yourself focused and encouraged–even though so many times other people zoomed right past you making you doubt where you were in your process and progress toward your dreams?
Well, I just wanted to say thanks–for sticking it out, for not giving up. Because it isn’t all in vain. Because you are becoming. Because things are h a p p e n i n g. Because I’m proud of you. ♥
Love,
Jenuine
Posted on August 12, 2011 by
~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 a slow drag
then passed along
exhaling worries
out with the smoke
for me
it is this pen
and these pages
these words
and this emotion
you may keep
your spirits and
your stairmaster
you may have
your music
and your substances
but leave for me
Poetry
on the page
I am free
this pen takes me
anywhere I want to be
I can plunge down deep
digging into the depths of despair
or I can traverse the tricky
terrain of life’s troublesome trials
I can linger a while in lament
or I can relish a reverie of the ridiculous
I can soar high on the strong wing of hope
or I can anguish in the longings of love
I can roar and storm with rage
or I can whisper a gentle rainfall of tears
I have
no limits
no rules
no borders
no authorities
no judgments
save my own
but even those I put on mute
while pen glides
across paper
leaving ink footprints in the shape of
words
thoughts
images
moments
here
is where I
find
become
am myself
fully
deeply
exquisitely
Poetry is my
favorite mirror
in which to
gaze upon my soul’s countenance
an image I carry with me
when forced through
the madhouse maze of
distorted carnival mirrors
Poetry reminds me
who I am
and
who I want to be
in Poetry
I am not white
I am not female
I simply am
experience
movement
human
Posted on July 31, 2011 by
~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 creatures
I am not easily removed
I will grow tall
I will repair
I will send up new stems
For I was made to bloom
and to offer sweet nourishing nectar
I carry powers of healing
and am of noble character
So bring on the worst
and come what may
for I am resilient
and evermore shall
thrive!
Posted on July 28, 2011 by
~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 truth
it begins small
tiny as a seed
just one letter:
I
I choose compassion
I draw the line
I choose to thrive
I respect myself
I choose to hope
I will not be bound by fear
I choose to take action
I will let go
I choose to break cycles of violence
I will be authentic
I choose to feel
I will not stay silent
I choose to forgive
myself
and
others
Posted on April 5, 2011 by
~Jenuine
Would you still love me…
Would you love my scars–
my discolored, gnarled, footprints of pain?
Would you love my shadows–
the ones that darken my eyes every now and then?
Would you love the cluttered corners
and messy closets of my soul?
Would you love the insecurities
that tag along with my confidence?
Would you love my past
and all its ghosts?
Would you love my future
and all my dreams?
Would you love my present
and all my work-in-process?
Would you love my passion
and my stubbornness?
Would you love my curves
and extra weight?
Would you love the vulnerable
beneath my strength?
Would you love the raging storms
that thunder on my horizons?
Would you love how I long to nurture…
in ways other than from my womb?
Would you love the fears
that loom behind my brave face?
Would you love the mistakes
from which I strive to grow?
Would you love the flaws
I have yet to realize?
Would you love me
snoring,
sniffling,
or
sneezing?
Would you love me
despairing,
discouraged,
or
defeated?
Would you love my wrinkles
and forgetful mind?
Would you love my stiff joints
and failing sight?
Would you love me still?
Posted on January 13, 2011 by
“Ink runs from the corner of my mouth…there is no happiness like mine…I have been eating poetry…” ~ Mark Strand
~Jenuine
I have been eating poetry
and it tastes like
graff art pieced up on a wall
barbed wire and train cars
neon signs flickering, fading
traffic lights and busstops
newspaper blankets and
dumpster delicacies
I have been eating poetry
and it tastes like
dew drops on blades of grass
fog rolling off the sea
the thrum of a hummingbird’s flight
orangeblossoms in spring
the sun’s warm rays on a cool day
the salt of the ocean in the air
bursts of color everywhere blooming
I have been eating poetry
and it tastes like
revolution
becoming unsilenced
truth being uttered out of the throats of children
a flickering flame in a dark cave
shining light on injustice
exposing the true face of corruption
I have been eating poetry
and it tastes like
salty tears streaming down your face
the cold steel of his eyes
her lips set into a frown
the echoing emptiness in the hallways of her heart
the wistful longing in your eyes
the deadened numbness in his touch
her body wincing in pain
I have been eating poetry
and it tastes like
tulips pushing up through snow to explode into bloom
sunbeams and raindrops mingling into rainbows
sea’s swells subsiding into calm
brilliant dawn after darkest night
lush oasis offering respite from scortching desert
cool quenching downpour after parched drought
hope
I have been eating poetry
and it tastes like
you
me
us
them
him
her
we
our
life
Posted on January 6, 2011 by
~Jenuine
they say the desert is a place
of death
of dying–
that it is barren
and without life
I say
look at all the life
coursing
and
pulsing
just underneath
waiting
for the slightest
fall of rain
to quench
and set free
such vibrant life
a-bloom
they say the desert is a place
for the forgotten
and banished–
that it is forsaken
and without hope
I say
the desert is not for
the lost
but for the
searching—
for there
in the
still
quiet
expanse
of being
wisdom is
whispered on the wind
comfort is
scattered among starlight
hope is
diamonds of dewdrops
and understanding is
saturated in succulents
I have come to cherish the desert
a sparse space
but a necessary one
just as winter is a
season of
rest
of stillness
of pause
so too is the desert such a place
and just as the
bitterness of winter
sweetens the
lush, verdant, spring
so too the
dust of desert
amplifies the
quenching, replenishing, oasis
so fear not the desert spaces
nor dread the winter seasons
for there is yet a quickening
of all that is within you
yet to be
brought out
into the light
for the
wonderment of the world!
Posted on January 1, 2011 by
In the Words of Womyn celebrates it’s first birthday! Wooohooo!
What an incredible first year we had! In January 2010, ITWOW was born out of conversations and experiences and a passion for empowering the voices of womyn everywhere. ITWOW began as a writing circle workshop and grew into this website featuring online publications of womyns’ writings. As I reflect upon 2010, I celebrate abundance: the completion of three, 10-week sessions of ITWOW workshops held at Tia Chucha’s Centro Cultural; over 25 womyn having participated in those workshops throughout the year; over 75 writings having been published on this site; and countless testimonies having been shared by womyn who are finding their words, their voices, their true selves!
I am overwhelmed by the honor and privilege it is to share with my sisters in this adventure of writing, growing, and healing. In the Words of Womyn has become one of the greatest delights of my life; it is a gift of priceless worth to my soul.
I extend my deepest gratitude to Tia Chucha’s for providing me with space, support, and nurturing–without which I would not be able to develop, host, and continue the work of In the Words of Womyn. I offer my utmost respect and sincerest appreciation to each of the womyn who have dared to share herself by telling her story, by participating in the workshops, by stepping up to the mic, and by publishing on this site.
I have been so profoundly inspired, encouraged, affirmed, nurtured, and blessed by this incredible community of writers that I truly stand in awe. There is healing that may not have been stirred; there is new life that may not have been coaxed; there are poems that I would not have written; there is courage I may not have found; and there is a me I might not have discovered, had it not been for ITWOW.
So thank you all and may we continue to give sound to our stories and volume to our voices in this new year!
with a thankful and overflowing heart,
~Jenuine
Posted on November 30, 2010 by
~Jessieca Cervantez
The sun has arised!
Feel that warm glow on your skin.
Open thy eyes,
let the light settle in.
Enjoy you’re alive.
This is what thou must realize:
Know that we will win this battle we all face within.
Reach in!
Dig deep inside and you’ll find peace.
Reside your mind with a kind rhyme and you shall be released.
Limit the beliefs and these fantasies will cease to be reached and
remain discrete from ones realities…
Did i say that clearly?
Well, I feel the need to preach.
Listen in and hear me, please.
Evaluate this phase to replace this foul taste to penetrate and force
innocents by the waist.
Wait…
Resist to activate!
Rehabilitate from this corrupt way to procreate.
Self operate if thy actions have taken place.
It’s not too late to contemplate!
Edit this trait.
Retrace your paces, rewind and erase.
Reiterate to lift off those heavy weights.
Don’t degrade into your hate.
Segregate from that damned place.
Quit to stimulate and aggravate disease into the state.
Integrate and assimilate to accommodate so we can liberate this human race from being raped.
Stand and allocate to terminate this proliferating rate.
Rise to precipitate our path to deviate from this unfortunate fate.
Recreate a gateway to bring joy and advocate to contain the faith.
Revelate your talent, don’t procrastinate or let it go to waste.
Predicate your passion.
Dedicate to originate!
You’re not a disgrace so keep your chin up!
Trust, I woudn’t prevaricate or dissimulate because lies creates all to fall from grace.
All these fakes need to awake and emancipate from their masquerades.
Try to facilitate and educate those wanting to compensate.
Have compassion for your fellow mates.
Cultivate to evolve and regenerate all into our brighter days.
Work to alleviate the fallen.
Once done then we all can praise the rise of the humankind.
But while kept inside where there’s no shine,
Scrutinize and say, “I know mine…”.
Strive to survive, not deprive your life from sunrise.
Refine.
You gotta spend some time.
Love, shall entice and feel so right.
All will visualize and ignite thy divine light!
So wipe your eyes from crying.
Thou will be just fine.
And when no longer confined take a step forward only when you can forgive and start over again.
Repent and be penitent.
Dispense the occurrence of admittance into intense constant adamant impertinence.
Be vigilant of the forbiddens.
Again,
forgiveness to your Brethren is relevant.
Rather than building a hurt weapon as a mason,
construct a plan for your development.
Make that your occupation.
Organization can lead the way.
Your ready to set.
Time to play.
Let’s begin.
This isn’t the end.
Breathe in this present moment…
We must stay persistent to uplift friends into an emergent state of coexistence.
There is no difference, we are all equivalent.
Even the malevolent are convenient.
Become advent that the absence of bad presence seizing into innocence and confluence represents a prevention of a declaration of a balance within the earth’s inhabitant’s sense of recognition towards a new
alliance.
Coherence will influence subsequent fervent contents of the current environment to commence.
Indeed a transcendent evolution.
Do your best to be consistent.
My intent of this document is to enhance our performance in this resistance of frequent interference from insignificant substance.
Study the flagrant evidence.
Check out some reference.
Understand the circumstance.
Stray away from mis-perceptions.
Try some separation.
There are many different repellents.
Read.
Listen.
Experiment.
It’s always good to have an abundance.
Utterance is my favorite way to vent.
To brush against a canvas is a proficient antidepressant.
Remember,
believe you have a limitless extent.
Don’t believe those who tell you, you are incompetent.
Why?
Because everyone is important and significant.
Trust in yourself, in others, and then…
It will be clear and evident that all of this was meant to happen.
Overcome the opponent of pestilence and take a movement for enlightenment because self amendment will be time well spent.
Well, these are my tenets to save our planet from pollutants.
Any comments?
I’d appreciate any pronouncements.