Poetry ๐and Photography ๐ธ 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.
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) Itโs 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, weโre 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 youโre 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. ๐๐ฝโค๏ธ๐พ Yโall 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 weโre only concerned with comfort at this point unless God sees fit to heal him from within. (Iโve 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.
โNo one is immune from substances or mental health issues. And we need to talk about it. We need to talk about losing our children and our family members to it so that others know it’s okay and that it happens and to end the stigma because, the only way we end it is by talking about it and talking about prevention and really supporting others who are in our spot. So, if you need to reach out to me, do that, I’m here.โ
Jessica Care Moore is the founder and CEO of Moore Black Press, executive producer of Black WOMEN Rock!, and founder of the literacy-driven, Jess Care Moore Foundation. An internationally renowned poet, playwright, performance artist, and producer, she is the 2019 and 2017 Knight Arts Award Winner, 2016 Kresge Arts Fellow, NAACP Great Expectations Awardee, and an Alain Locke Award recipient from the Detroit Institute of Arts. Moore is the author of The Words Donโt Fit in My Mouth, The Alphabet Verses the Ghetto, Sunlight Through Bullet Holes, and the critically acclaimed Techno Choreopoem, Salt City. Her work has been published in numerous literary collections and she has performed on stages all over the world, including The Apollo Theater, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the London Institute for Contemporary Arts. jessica lives and writes in an historic Detroit neighborhood with her son King Thomas.
Moore was born in Detroit on October 28, 1971. Detroit is more known for automobiles and for popular music than for its writing scene, but she was exposed to poetry as a student at the cityโs Cody High School. She attended Michigan State University in Lansing and Wayne State University in Detroit, writing for campus newspapers at both schools, but her first experience placing her poetry before a group came later. โI didnโt start reading out loud to strangers until โ94,โ she told the Cincinnati City Beat. โ My dad passed and I read a poem and people were very impressed by that.โ
I am so thankful to have the friends I do I am so thankful to have the opportunities I have I am so thankful to have God in my life This is a poem of remembrance This is a poem of love This is my heart displayed in the way I most often choose to pray . . . . . #poetry #poems #poem #poets #poet #poetryishealing #poetrycommunity #poetrytherapy #spokenword #Godisgood #spokenwordartist #spokenwordpoetry #performancepoetry #performancepoet #pagepoetry #weeklyopenmic #poetryisnotdead #goldenageofpoetry #communion #poetryinmotion #Jesus #lastsupper #breakingbread #faith #renopoetry #renoartscene #biggestlittlepoets #jessejameszpoet #sidewayseightpoetry #sidewayseightprojects
Anis Mojgani is the current Poet Laureate of Oregon. A two-time individual champion of the National Poetry Slam and winner of the International World Cup Poetry Slam, he has been awarded residencies from the Vermont Studio Center, Caldera, AIR Serenbe, The Bloedel Nature Reserve, The Souโwester, and the Oregon Literary Arts Writers-In-The-Schools program. A recipient of an Academy of American Poets Poet Laureate Fellowship, Anis has done commissions for the Getty Museum and the Peabody Essex Museum; and his work has appeared on HBO, National Public Radio, and as part of the Academy of American Poets Poem-A-Day series. His work has appeared in the pages of the NYTimes, Rattle, Platypus, Winter Tangerine, Forklift Ohio, and Bat City Review.
Known for his performances and well regarded for them the world over, Anis has performed at hundreds of universities across the U.S.; festivals around the globe such as the Sydney Writers Festival, Jamaicaโs Calabash festival, and Seoulโs Young Writers Festival; and for audiences as varied as the United Nations and the House of Blues. The author of six books of poetry and the libretto for Sanctuaries, his first childrenโs book is forthcoming from Holiday House/Neal Porter Books; his latest poetry collection, The Tigers They Let Me, comes out in July 2023. Originally from New Orleans, Anis currently lives in Portland Oregon.
~ Dragonfly ~ . I am so incomplete without you I only breathe because you allow it to be so As for confession, you already know everything that needs to be said I give that over to you now unknowing as to how you will work wonder in me but I believe you will allow me to see in time in love in remembrance of all you have already done. . . . #poetry #poems #poem #poets #poet #poetryishealing #poetrycommunity #poetrytherapy #spokenword #poesia #spokenwordartist #spokenwordpoetry #performancepoetry #performancepoet #pagepoetry #weeklyopenmic #poetryisnotdead #goldenageofpoetry #poetryopenmic #poetryinmotion #mondaynightpoetry #spokenviewscollective #renoarts #renopoetry #renoartscene #biggestlittlepoets #biggestlittlecity #jessejameszpoet #sidewayseightpoetry #sidewayseightprojects
My name is Jamie Louise Madigan. I was born in Dublin, Ireland but currently live in Calgary, Alberta. I have had a passion for creative writing from a young age. To me, writing is mental clarity โ a beautiful platform oozing with vulnerability, infusing zest and brushstrokes into everyday life.
My debut poetry collection, Lipstick Stains and Coffee Cups, was released on Valentineโs Day, February 14th, 2023.
This book contains 130+ of my poems, and I am currently working on my second book.
The title, Lipstick Stains and Coffee Cups, is a metaphorical reflection of the book broken down into two parts. The first half of the book covers the severity and immense psychological distress I experienced after being involved with an abusive and manipulative partner. A lipstick stain is symbolic of this โ how a tumultuous relationship leaves a lasting impression. The second half of the book displays a ground-breaking shift in perspective. A euphoric sense of comfort and warmth towards the eccentricities of life. The triumph of the human spirit. The adrenaline rush of new beginnings โ like a piping hot cup of coffee.
A decade ago, my heart cracked open. These are the remnants.
SIDEWAYS EIGHT PROJECTS 