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...
H & G by Anna Maria Hong
H & G, by Anna Maria Hong, was the winner of the 2014 Clarissa Dalloway Book Prize, ENTROPY Magazine’s Best of 2018: Best Fiction Books, and Finalist 2019 Vermont Book Award. Purchase I will always be deeply grateful to all the amazing women who run AROHO and their integral support of idiosyncratic writing by women writers. I never would have anticipated the life of this book in its first year of publication. I know that AROHO’s...
“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...
A Life Force Quickened
“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.” ― Martha Graham, American modern dancer and choreographer “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.”...
Makers and Carriers of Fresh Meaning
“Bless the poets, the workers for justice, the dancers of ceremony, the singers of heartache, the visionaries, all makers and carriers of fresh meaning— We will all make it through, despite politics and wars, despite failures and misunderstandings. There is only love.” ― Joy Harjo, U.S. Poet Laureate, Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems Our new U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, poet Barbara Buckman Strasko, singer of heartache...
“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...
What Do My Ancestors Tell Me?
My generation is now the door to memory. That is why I am remembering. – Joy Harjo, U.S. Poet Laureate It is clear that we share common ground as women, but our many ancestors present a mosaic of exile, diaspora, conquest, survival and triumph. We are women remembering – with pride, grief, curiosity, vulnerability, and, most of all, a desire to reconcile our ancestral stories with our own. What do your ancestors tell you? Find the...
“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...
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What treasures are secreted in the deepest places, the bathys, and how will we recover their promise?
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The Refracting Wave Jun 27, 2025
