Poetry 📓and Photography 📸 by JJZ. Explorations worldwide and within. Trying to be heard, stirred, and perhaps cured by life's many hidden images, and the written-spoken word.
#nationalpoetrymonth #aprilispoetrymonth #napowrimo #napowrimo2024 . I’m honored to serve as Poet Laureate for @cityofreno in collaboration with @renobigartslittlecity as the 5th to do so since the creation of the position. My tenure will run from January 2024 through December 2025. . . . . . #poetry #poetrycommunity #poets #poems #poet #poem #nevadapoetry #nevadapoets #biggestlittlepoets #spokenword #spokenwordpoetry #spokenwordpoets #spokenwordartist #writingcommunity #renoarts #renoartscene #spokenword #biggestlittlecity #reno #renonv #renopoetry #sidewayseightprojects #sidewayseightpoetry #jessejameszpoet #poetryopenmic #renopoetlaureate
There remain magical places left in the world where, If you are still enough, you can hear the distant echoes which may tell you stories you wish to know.
Along well worn paths, those less travelled, and where trailblazers haven’t yet been there are storytellers taking forms which blend into the land itself.
Looking up at the sky, listening intently,
through the calls of the Ruby Crown Kinglets, the chatter of the Robins, the songs of the House Finches, the alerting awareness of the Scrub Jays and the playful fluttering of the Cedar Waxwings we can hear the echoes of the ancient chants over the fire from the ceremonial processions of the Numu or Northern Paiute people.
Sifting the soil beneath the hearty roots of the coyote willow we can hear the echoes of lighthearted conversations of the Wašiw or Washoe people weaving the fibrous branches of old into vessels for serving feasts
Below the stones lining the river’s edge helping to provide flowing life to the region we can hear the echoes of blessings and prayers spoken over a nursing child by their
Newe or Western Shoshone mother who was doing the same as the river then.
Amongst the thorns of the woods rose, floating on the shifting wind, we can hear the echoes of those nameless and unknown longing to belong and be loved.
BIO: Ms.AyeVee is an award-winning Afro-latina Literary Artist from Las Vegas, NV. She is a woman of many hats with a passion for Poetry. Her work has been featured by the legendary All Def Poetry, Write About Now & Button Poetry. Ms. AyeVee has also been recognized by Las Vegas Book Festival, NPR & The US Congress for advancing the cause of literacy & extraordinary literary achievement. In 2022 Ms. AyeVee was selected as an official TEDx speaker for Las Vegas. She also runs a Las Vegas based poetry organization called, Beyond the Neon ( @btnpoetry ) that focuses on poetry exclusive events and community outreach. Ms.AyeVee is currently promoting her new poetry collection, Broken Silence. Follow her poetic journey at… https://linktr.ee/Msayevee
According to urban dictionary Broken silence is the silence that drowns a situation after hearing or witnessing something heartbreaking.
According to Collin’s Dictionary If someone breaks their silence about something, they talk about something that they have not talked about before or for a long time. .
Tapestry of Nevada Poets – Las Vegas Book Festival – Ms AyeVee (Ashley Vargas)
On this Ash Wednesday I find myself in deep contemplation of my own mortality and individual purpose. Through writing, conversation, prayer, meditation, sharing and study I have been exposed to the darkest parts of myself as well as those parts which fight to shine through. Thank you to those precious ones who have helped me navigate sacred space and atonement along the way. . I am eternally grateful to chosen family who’ve sat with me in silence, worship and social gathering to help grind through the refinement process in hopes of glimpses at sanctification. The ones who’ve asked and answered the hard questions. The ones who’ve fought the good fight and continue to do so. The ones who see love for the action verb that it is. . . . . . #poetry #poetrycommunity #poets #poems #poet #poem #nevadapoetry #nevadapoets #biggestlittlepoets #spokenword #spokenwordpoetry #spokenwordpoets #spokenwordartist #writingcommunity #renoarts #renoartscene #spokenword #biggestlittlecity #reno #renonv #beyondtheneon #battlebornpoets #battlebornpoetry #sidewayseightprojects #sidewayseightpoetry #jessejameszpoet #weeklyopenmic #openmic #poetryopenmic #renopoetlaureate
Fariha Róisín is a multidisciplinary artist, born in Ontario, Canada. She was raised in Sydney, Australia, and is based in Los Angeles, California. As a Muslim queer Bangladeshi, she is interested in the margins, liminality, otherness, and the mercurial nature of being. Her work has pioneered a refreshing and renewed conversation about wellness, contemporary Islam, degrowth and queer identities and has appeared in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Vice, Village Voice, and others.
This study is not meant to serve as an exhaustive account of this amazing writer’s work. It is meant to serve as a sample platter which will encourage others to seek out more for themselves in their own time. Please visit the personal website above to further support Fariha Róisín’s body of work. You will be happy you did.
I had the opportunity to share this piece at BOHEMIA NIGHT at @brukatheatre last night as a part of their annual Theatre and New Works Festival (13th) . As a poet it was beautiful to share the stage with dancers, comedians, musicians, mimes, actors, and other poets. I love this festival every year. I hope you enjoy it as well. . . . . . #poetry #poetrycommunity #poets #poems #poet #poem #nevadapoetry #nevadapoets #biggestlittlepoets #spokenword #spokenwordpoetry #spokenwordpoets #spokenwordartist #writingcommunity #renoarts #renoartscene #spokenword #biggestlittlecity #reno #renonv #beyondtheneon #battlebornpoets #battlebornpoetry #sidewayseightprojects #sidewayseightpoetry #jessejameszpoet #weeklyopenmic #openmic #poetryopenmic #renopoetlaureate
I used to train dogs for a living but this majestic creature has taught me more than I could ever know. His presence is irreplaceable. His spirit is untamed. His being is beautiful. Finn Bomani Leroy Jenkins Zigmac was born 1/29/2014 by our estimation (though he may be older) It’s always hard to tell when one has lived the life of an adopted refugee as he has. Since none of us knows the days in a life, we’re trying to fill our days with as much life as possible. For Finn that looks like heading to Lake Tahoe to soak in its healing waters and capping off the evening with some fresh French fries from Char Pit. If you’re reading this I wish you his kind of joy. I wish you his abundance in life. I wish you his kind of love. Adventure is out there and the Zigmac crew are along for this ride together. 🙏🏽❤️🐾 Y’all please keep our boy Finn in your prayers. Rather than waiting for mid February to attend his annual wellness exam, God tugged at my heart today (Wednesday, 12/27/23) to take him to the emergency vet to check up on his intermittent cough and laborious breathing. Our fur baby has full blown lung cancer which undoubtedly started in his throat region. It has spread far enough that we’re only concerned with comfort at this point unless God sees fit to heal him from within. (I’ve already laid hands on him while sobbing profusely and prayed for exactly that upon returning home from Blue Pearl.) He has given us everything a creature can give and I feel helpless to give him anything besides steroid tablets dipped in creamy Jif peanut butter. I love you all. God is good. Lord please help me to be the person my dog thinks I am. Lord please heal our Finn. In Jesus name. Amen.
SIDEWAYS EIGHT PROJECTS 