“No Faith Without Body” excerpt by Cassie Premo Steele
“No Faith Without Body” excerpt by Cassie Premo Steele The Catholic Church taught me about pain. My first sexual assault happened while I attended a Catholic elementary school, I had been assaulted by a Catholic boy in high school, and the Bishop decided to close my high school that was an intellectual and spiritual haven for women. Immaculata, named after Mary and honoring her immaculate conception, put this...
“Suddenly the Sun” by Donna Spector; “Room Enough to be Me” by Elizabeth Best; “Heo Nanseolheon” by Yun Suk-nam
“Suddenly the Sun” by Donna Spector comes over the hill behind my house, lights the sun porch, turns my orange and yellow paper flowers to gold, and even the oriental rug from Walmart looks splendid. In these times of turmoil, I am grateful for any moments when there is no new news, no tv, no radio, just two cats purring in the kitchen, and my study quiet and full of dreams. I came to New York from Berkeley, during the...
“Releasing the Sadness” by Midge Guerrera
“Releasing the Sadness” by Midge Guerrera One of my nonna’s mulberry trees was a perfect climbing tree. I’d creep higher and higher into its branches surveying the world as I knew it and dream of other worlds far away. Lots of little girls imagine themselves princesses – twirling, whirling, prancing at the ball and bedazzling a prince or three. Well, I tried to visualize that, but after tripping over a hoe, stepping in...
“Granddaughter of Stonewall” by Ona Marae
“Granddaughter of Stonewall” by Ona Marae Why do I write? I write because of them. I write because of solemn women, in sensible shoes and fedoras, wearing three articles of women’s clothing. I write because of laughing women, who lean across campfire pits, braving growing flames to hand hot dogs to lovers and friends. I write for herstory documented for lives recorded for stories told and retold. I write because now I am...
“Mantle” and Letter by Andrea Mozarowski, Legacy Fellow
“Mantle” by Andrea Mozarowski Father 1 I never breathed your breath of love I never learned breath your exhalations stung with fear, darkness, confined fathers lost forever within prison walls your breath hung with spirit oil paint and gasoline I never breathed your breath of love nuzzling me close for creature warmth – a way to find my way home – drunk, staggering with your love for me – I can only dream that the darkness...
Homage to Literary Ancestor: Toni Morrison
“Tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light. Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear. Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul.” – Toni Morrison, American novelist, essayist, and teacher Dear Creative Woman, Our town was a tiny landlocked one in Louisiana. Devoid of bookstores and gathering writers. As kids – black,...
“The Sacred Wash” by Jerrice J. Baptiste; “On Lisa’s Mantel” by Darlene Taylor; “The Ancestress” by Dianalee Velie
“The Sacred Wash” by Jerrice J. Baptiste The women stretch their clothes on the line in the circular sun, tied between two Grenadia trees. It’s noon, and the wash by hand is complete. Sweat drips, their moumous cling to their backs. The waterfall from the mountaintop invites them to swim for a moment, a vibrant song on lips thanks the waterfall for flowing. Each woman gets out of the water with a helping hand from...
“Be Free” by Barbara Eikner Thompson; “Phoenix of Fire” by Márcia Maria Tannure; “If I Am” by Rebecca Woolston; and “Legacy” by Elizabeth Best
“Be Free” by Barbara Eikner Thompson We are all creators … so if you dance, dance. If you sing, sing. If you build, build. If you cook, cook. If you carve, carve. If you weave, weave. If you write, write. If you prophesy, prophesy. You are the child of the creative force of the universe, stay in the light and be free. I am a lover of poetry and books.. I am a mother, grandmother, wife and friend. I live...
“Have your eyes ever been crossed or turned out?” by Barbara Buckman Strasko, “My DNA” by Judy Catterton, and “Glass Half” by Lachlan Brooks
“Have your eyes ever been crossed or turned out?” by Barbara Buckman Strasko At the eye doctor I hesitate. Each day of my young life I wanted to say what the world looked like to me. And what they said was, Don’t think about that now, don’t see that way, don’t say ─ My great grandmother Rosa Vitoritto Greco remains inside of me a voice that could not speak when she lived. She was left to mind the grocery...
“In the Attic” by Yenigün Batu; “Broken Bough” by Barbara Anne Kearney
“In the Attic” by Yenigün Batu I always will be there, the cat in the attic. My pointed ears are here to listen, the things you won ́t say, but I do understand the beauty And the dimness of your silence pulling me like a black hole. Was I always like that? I don ́t know. I ́d love to listen, you know. So you tell me a story, a piece of sycamore you are made of. Sit down, child, you utter … When was the last time you...
“indigenous to” by Kenna Pearl; “Ascension” by Rosetta DeBerardinis; “Penance” by Katerina Canyon
“indigenous to” by Kenna Pearl there are no traces of the homeland left in me red dashes track a journey back to origin but there is no pin in the map to mark my destination try to follow the toll of a bell that sings your name a name rich with the stories of your family with the stories of your homeland but even our names are not our own just something borrowed by someone stolen while our true names sunk to the bottom of...
“Girl” by Marilyn Flower
This poem was originally published as “Daughter” in 2017 in Down in the Dirt Magazine, and will soon be republished in the blog “In a Woman’s Voice.” My background and culture is Jewish-American, third generation. I teach “Life and Literature” in an Emeritus program at a community college. My mama’s favorite was her son who died, the boy I was born to replace. She lay in her bedroom and...
“Memory of Evolution” by Kathy Bruce, Excerpted Prologue of “Potentially Human” by Jessica Jay Dee
“Memory of Evolution” by Kathy Bruce My work explores mythological female forms within the context of poetry, literature and the natural environment. I am the recipient of numerous awards including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship, Fulbright-Hayes scholar grants to Peru and a Ford Foundation Grant. My work has been exhibited in the US, UK and internationally. – Kathy Bruce Find more of Kathy Bruce’s...
“Vernal Equinox” by Nita Hernandez, “I Am” by Saranya Francis
“I Am” excerpt by Saranya Francis I am a seed … The same one you buried in a hurry to kill the voice you didn’t want anyone to heed to or hear … I am a vessel that fills, empties, overflows … then fills again … Radiant, unbridled, human. “Vernal Equinox” art by Nita Hernandez
“Inheritance” by Sarah Deckro; “Passage” from Crone Wisdom by Valerie Forde-Galvin; “Alice the Queen of Hearts” by Camille Christian
“Inheritance” by Sarah Deckro I am a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States and have been raised by a family that observes multiple religions and world views. I am a writer, teacher and photographer with a passion for stories. I work as a preschool teacher in Boston, MA. – Sarah Deckro “Passage” from Crone Wisdom by Valerie Forde-Galvin raising you from infancy I make the...
“Moon Goddess” by Briyana Negrette; “Mother” by Carolyn Gall; “I Am From” by Irma Vazquez; “She” excerpt by Rebekah Blake
“Moon Goddess” by Briyana Negrette I am an American artist with Puerto Rican, Peruvian Mexican and Native heritage. My family is Catholic but I believe myself to be a spiritualist. I explore the realms of identity, religion and the subconscious mind. – Briyana Negrette “Mother” by Carolyn Gall I’m from Eden, Adam and Eve Do not be deceived I’m from Mesopotamia I’m from Academia The deep forests...
“Available Light” by Sandy Coomer, “Swan” by Rinat Harel
“Available Light” by Sandy Coomer I’ve come to the lake to take pictures, capture first light lifting off water, an image that is more than the muted colors of a somber morning, a world worn dull with sorrow. It’s hard to find a reason to smile when all around me the edges of the good I believed in sink beneath a hard...
Undoing Entropy
“To come together…is to remember all that we forget to tell ourselves when we are working alone.” —Camille Endacott, Q partner and graduate student studying organizational communication It takes effort to gather– undoing entropy always does. To come together, though, is to remember all that we forget to tell ourselves when we are working alone. To gather with others is to remember who we are as creative people and to...
Our Invitation, Our Circle
At the start of 2017, we extended an invitation to you to join our new AROHO circle by reading and signing Our Purpose, and to enter into a shared dialogue with creative women by entering The Q. We are heartened that so many of you from around the world have already joined with us in our purpose, and intrigued and touched by the resonant responses of those of you who entered The Q. We are grateful that you are a part of our...
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Entering the Clearing Feb 28, 2025
