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 [...]

~Jenuine I walk across the schoolyard kids chase each other a smaller boy cries “You’re cheating! You’re cheating!” as he tries to keep up with the bigger boys playing keep-away I see this concrete “yard” enclosed on all sides by corridors of classrooms The spaces between buildings connected by tall fences I look around at [...]

~Jenuine I would write love on my arms in dripping ink so that every time we embraced a little would rub off on you I would write love on my eyes so that every time you looked into them you would find love there and you could rest for a moment I would write love [...]

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 [...]

~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 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 [...]

~Jenuine I don’t want a smart phone a smart car or a smart TV I don’t want devices made of plastic and metal to take over my humanity to think for me to decide for me to act for me I never want to forget the feel of fresh, damp, earth in my hands as [...]