~Ariana Torres She walks with so much pride no doubt she got the style Got the nerve to be different all seems well in this girls life Look in her mind you will see her last night with a knife Taking it to her veins drops it to the floor as her heart pains Shes [...]

~Jenuine I wonder what it would be like if we unpimped the church if we degilted the goblets and traded velvet for burlap what would it be like if we down-sized the sound system and returned all those flat-screens what if sermons were open mic style where we could learn from each other instead of [...]

~Jenunine I will not hide my laughter– I will let smile burst forth and shine upon those in whom I delight I will not be robbed of my light and my joy, I will glow in spite of those who would snuff me out I will not cower in fear– for those who prowl and [...]

~Bethany Lauren Grigsby Winter’s teeth bit our bones as we all huddled close Passing around the yerba mate and sipping it quickly, Hoping to unfreeze parts of our body that had froze It was June But instead of donning tank-tops and shorts and flip flops I was in scarves and coats and boots in rural [...]

~Bethany Lauren Grigsby To my potential-but-not-guaranteed or wholly essential future male life-partner I come with a proposal That if we commit to walking down an aisle of marriage We commit to walking in a certain kind of life First order of business: Let’s take an axe and chop down that white picket fence they told [...]

~Jenunine. I see a teenage boy sitting across from me mind and soul trapped in a broken body; multiple strokes have left him a prisoner using art and technology we communicate silently sometimes I wonder if I had never asked this question, would he have ever shared his thoughts would there be someone to listen– [...]

~Jenuine I want that roller-coaster-on-the-down-slope, caught-in-a-sudden-down-pour-on-a-summer-day, look-up-in-the-sky-just-in-time-to-catch-a-shooting-star, bought-a-ticket-on-a-whim-and-won-the-whole-jackpot, kind of love. I want that sun-coming-out-just-in-time-to-paint-brilliant-sunset, first-dripping-bite-into-ripest-nectarine, intoxicating-inhale-of-fragrant-spring-rose, cool-breath-of-night-air-washing-over-sleeping-face, kind of story. I want that magical-enchanted-firefly-evening, rhythms-bumpin’-so-loud-it-competes-with-my-heart-to-make-pulse, first-warm-ray-of-sun-after-winter’s-chill, wave-crashing-on-your-back-unaware, kind of kiss. I want that playful-wind-dancing-’round-my-face, thunder-rattling-my-bones, full-moon-illuminating-snowscape-sparkling-like-diamonds, long-drink-of-cool-water-on-a-scorching-day, kind of man. Yeah, I said it I want it all– somehow between a little girl’s faded [...]

~Jenuine what if I said it out loud what if I put it on my status what if I spoke it into a mic what if I said how much I hurt what if I said how tired I am what if I said how little hope I have what if I said how afraid [...]

~Jenuine In every community there spans a chasm wide between the haves, and the have nots: those who have Hope.  and those who have not while some would argue that we are defined by those who have money and those who have not I tell you this: I have been stripped of all I own [...]

–Jenuine To we who are searching… for our words for our song for our poetry for our selves There are seasons of passing through deserts dry of crawling– parched and peaked– through wastelands barren And I have realized something: that while in this place of desolation no oasis did I find or rather for no [...]