Our Poems:

Where Words Paint a Picture

2024

Art Defined Cycles:
Poetry Writing Workshop
Theme: Are you recognizable by your values
Date: January 28, 2024
Instructor: Ray Jane
Author: Our brave participants

Would you know me by my values?

The neighbors call me a fool for feeding

Stray cats and children

For wiping their runny noses with my

finest lace

i try to show my values in my face, my

actions, my

Life, my grace to you

Do I portray what I profess?

I would never twist language

always looking

for the poetry in each moment

I choose to soar

My place is here

in this imperfect world

so why do I expect perfection?

Do you know me yet?

Eye am love at my best

And eye tend to forgive the rest

The struggle to yearn for a healthy lifestyle

Defines me or so

Overclouds my head

Do I portray what I profess?

Would you see God in me

as I speak to the unhoused

in these mean streets,

do I hold the ancestors lessons in my smile

Maestro

Susana @la.doctora.susana

PJ @pjsamuelspoet

Carla Schick

Connie Taylor

Jarvic P

Art Defined Cycles:

Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Where is the love?

Date: January 28, 2024

Instructor: Ray Jane

Author: Our brave participants

I made my love a river

and drowned in it

A river that flows through our bodies

a bridge that crosses troubled waters

love from me to you

I made my love shimmer

in growing circles, kiss

the edges of the river's bank.

And it flowed through my womb

I dove into the depths without fear

I made my love a river

for your waves to crash down on me

Watering my parched places

where scattered seeds have yet to take root

I made my love a river of all the tears

I've ever cried for those unworthy of my love..

Could something beautiful

sprout from broken promises?

Could something divine

come from something

that has never truly been whole?

Carla- @carlswrite25

@pjsamuelspoet

@la.doctora.susana

@raynebking

@norm_mattox

@kellymarymcallister

Art Defined Cycles:

Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Remember the Time

Date: March 10, 2024

Instructor: Ray Jane

Author: Our brave participants

I am a weaving of my memories

Thread by thread joining sadness

and joy

A tapestry of worn down threads,

"I am a weaving of my memories"

However don't mind the tears on

the fabric. The strands of my past

into

the tapestry of my future

Yes. I am woven through --

with golden threads, with threads

of glory and song.

an allegory of ambition

aching for acceptance amidst

the allure of acclaim

we cut patterns from the same cloth,

remember the same promises differently

@pjsamuelspoet

@norm_mattox

@kellymarymcallister

@shockieGthepoet

Art Defined Cycles:

Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Conspiracy Poetry

Date: April 21, 2024

Instructor: Ray Jane

Author: Our brave participants

“My existence is no conspiracy”

It is a solid thing, tangible and undeniable

It is a destiny conjured by my ancestors,

the resting place of their memories.

Born decades after my brothers and sisters,

born centuries after those before — do not, I sing,

do not doubt my beginnings — I belong for destiny is real.

persistent against all tyranny

“My existence is no conspiracy”

just ask the alien who lives next door to me

anon : "no accident or mix with aliens"

“My existence is no conspiracy”

just ask the alien who lives next door to me

My existence is no conspiracy ---- I

been running since I got here

@pjsamuelspoet

@kellymarymcallister

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Do You Speak Power?Date: September 8, 2024

Instructor: Ray Jane

I speak in power

Empowered by my ancestors, I am no longer afraid

so that the fountain of love and light flowing within fills every crevice of this void

In repeating incantations placed

in the back of my throat at 4am

waterfalls In the answer to the call my ancestors prayed in their survival.

we live now.

we live forever.

Because I am not a puppet letting someone's hand shoved up my back speak for me

Breath behind my words,

I speak in power

With a brilliant song in my soul echoing the chaos and creation of the universe

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Collab Part Deux- R(3)storation

Date: April 30, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane & Paul Con Queso

Authored by our brave participants

“Yesterday’s battles are done now”

take a breath and go with the flow

I breathe in slow and exhale

As if me and exhaustion are intertwined until end’s time.

Inhaling life’s tomorrow”

ignore the mental scream within saying "I can't breathe"

Tomorrow became today

I scream into an abyss searching for resuscitation

As the water of life bathes the battered and tattered soul,

Can feel like sunshine.... so get you some!

we will continue to thrive

for it is the nature of the spirit to be tenacious.

We are present creatures becoming the future

“Yesterday’s battles are done now”

Nikki Gray Holmes

Norm Mattox

Beeyonka

MJ Blackwell

Principe Guity Jr

Elizabeth

Bonnie Boucek

Terri Rose-Jertsen

Bryan Franco “Generalissimo”

Art Defined Cycles:

Poetry Writing Workshop

Date: Feb 19th

Instructor: Ray Jane

Author: Our brave participants

The space my body takes up is a bridge

Filling the gap between a rock and hard place…only concrete thoughts are welcomed here because I’m tired of floating…

Stuck somewhere between a rock and a hard place, the chasm cracked when I discovered there are nails made precisely to penetrate concrete.

Suspended in air. black girl magic touching the shorelines of disconnected lovers

leading to paths of healing, holistic fun and growth with empathy.

empathy for you reminds me of what i forget needs my sympathy for me

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Chasing Joy

Date: March 26, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

My joy is an act of rebellion

Misidentified as a thief, but never a giver

Rising my fist in solidarity in the belief of

freedom and in the joy of triumph

I wield it as a shield that wraps around my soul

When i show up as the unicorn in this gathering

my overt joy seeing the disdain in your frown

I share my joy with you, share it with others

My joy is resistance from the norm

Against those who would repress life's joy

My joy is my sharpest weapon and it cuts deep

Armed and dangerous i bring you joy from a

bubble wand, blow it at will

My joy is reclaiming my stolen joy

My joy is sugar deluging salt of oppression's tears

My joy is stomping on the enemies who tried to defeat me

it is winning in the midst of all doubts as they witness my rise

My joy will fuck you up and smile after doing so.

While wrongs are turned upside down, sideways,

and right as love wriggles and wrangles its way through

the cracks– a balm to soothe the tattered soul

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Resurrection

Date: April 9, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

“I resurrect to reincarnate”

I bring the ancient into a new that will be others' ancient

I will return ... better than ever.

I enter the tomb as a corpse and leave as a god.

I am the topsoil that one day will be the bedrock of your garden.

seeds germinate from the marrow left at the end of my decay

wings lifted me to heights above. love beyond love

I will not blow away -- I take root even now

and will show you how to breathe below the surface.

The shadows that lurk, not kept at bay

Ever-starving, will consume your sunshine

Let’s chase them, send them on their way

A god among the myriad gods that we make up one and all

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Abundance

Date: May 21, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

Abundance is my birthright

I accept this right and bless all I can in kind

And I'm here to claim what is mine!

To line these fingers in the love

He has chosen for me

Supercharging my portion of this timeline,

make it glisten

Abundance is my birthright

And I will blaze and burn bright

bleeding words of power and truth too

I am substrate, soil and textile; I'm here to reclaim

my silk, my corn, my texture.

Third-Eye dreaming -

Abundance is my birthright

Highly intuitive, instrument of the soul

It’s not a dream, it’s seeing the truth, softly.

Gift from the Universe, makes me feel whole.

Connecting from within

Abundance is my birthright

---

Susana Praver-Perez

MJ Blackwell

Elemen2al

Coach Jah Smalls

Michael Sindler

Momma D

K.sunnisavage

Chris Johnston

Connie Taylor

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Poetry is Protest

Date: June 29, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

When I was silent

they took it as permission

mute // became the mouth // of the gift hen,

Then again, I fixed my own foundation

"they keep clipping my wings"

she intuitions

I’ve held on to our hopes by my fingertips

With love as armor

they took it as permission to wire my mouth shut

so I should never speak my mind

i should have spoken up, like i was on a mission

Major to ground control

My voice is finally lifting

To them, my white noise is the sounds of fanfare

Make up, fanfare

to treat me as a broken rag doll,

too bad and so sad they could not read

the message in my marble black eyes

When I was loud, they saw me, finally.

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Is Art a Spiritual Language?

Date: July 16, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

My tongue speaks the heart

my ear listens to the heart for truth

like the truth in my bones echoes for all time

my heart beats the truth written on these lines

Looking through my 3rd eye for foresight.

Brimming with scorched tenderness, lips

like the truth in my bones echoes for all time

Caressing the harsh reality of the world

My tongue speaks the heart

whilst embracing the gentleness of new growth.

Like, the truth in my bones for all time. Up

in my Chakras manifesting light

Poetry gives me 20/20 vision

the glare of the sun has tried

to blind my third eye,

My tongue speaks the heart

but third eyes are gifts that cannot be returned

or become obsolete they are us forever. Up

in my Chakras manifesting light. Like

the truth in my bones echoes for all time

@norm_mattox

@FathomTwist

@bonnie_l_boucek

@pjsamuelspoet

@Gnrlsmo

@Unique_on_purpos3

@thechameleonpoetic

@shockieg_the_poet

@baked_by_marlynn

Shockie G, MJ Blackwell, Maestro Norm Mattox, Generalissimio, Momma D, Bonnie L Boucek, PJ, Theresa

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: The Audacity

Date: August 27, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

I was born with the audacity to live

I only know that life is to be freely lived.

Not to be confused with the need to survive

- fight or flight mode not welcomed here.

My eyes tell stories to the contrary,

and my bones don't know any other way,

So, I have found the wings I hid out back

in the garden years ago, and I am learning

to fly again.

who twist ropes around your heart,

who will never feed it to your soul,

that lead me to my husband. . .

but the audacity to live does not give me

the audacity to decide to die

Although I'm no baby bird, fledglings fall

under a mother's watchful eye

and I was born to keep going

And speak truthfully, out loud

“I was born with the audacity to live”

And speak truthfully, out loud

"I was born with the audacity to live"

On Purpose.

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: Frequencies of Feelings

Date:September 3, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

Nothing moves me like melodies

Unless it's a well placed tongue in my sea of uncertainty

Melodies that dance with abandon,

driving even the most unwillingly feet to their rhythm

Birds get a jump on the morning light,

there are worms to be had..

but not without first bursting out in song of a new day…

out on the skinny branches.

like hearing your voice call my name,

this love melody flows like wind in a hurricane

wrapping me in vibrations of love synonyms

Whispering secrets of distant memories

My bones feel the bass.

The Lyrics I embrace.

I feel your frequency enrobe me

Sounds so sweet, tapping my feet.

Getting this groove The music makes me move.

Ik this is water but i wonder how our blood reacts

And I am enrapt in all that moves and surrounds/like

your lips flowing with cinnamon.

The sounds of love

Sounds so sweet, tapping my feet.

Something like music and heart

beating in synergy

Jennifer Pardy, Zion, Francine Leonard, Connie, Rev. Kyle, Maetsro Norm Mattox, Terri, Kelly, Nikki Grey, Amira, Principe, Shockie G, Sierra PG, Elizabeth, Liz, Karina

Art Defined Cycles: Poetry Writing Workshop

Theme: preparing for Harvest

Date:October 8, 2023

Instructor: Ray Jane

Authored by our brave participants

I was born prepared for harvest

Planted in good soil

under a warm sun

Strange fruit ready to be plucked from

Dying family trees

Gleaning all the best seeds for myself

Ripe and ready, I

Grew with the sun's warmth

Harvest yields enough to share

with the rest

Of the village

Enough is an act of trust, a belief

that what is will be again

Even when crops go bare

We Harvest community amongst ourselves

We thrive together, forming one

Yet hands filled with greed hold back

the fruits of labor sewn

Those beliefs will come back as cardinals

and butterflies, flying free to land on their own objects

@smithwarring

@Shockieg_the_poet

@ TheChamelronPoetic

@neranyiroman

Terri

Sierra PG

Jennifer Pardy

Kelly

Connie Taylor

Rev. Kyle

Norm Mattox

2023

2022

Ray Jane Cycles

8/21/22 Exquisite Corpse

I choose to change

I choose to rid myself of traumas that keep me alive

while deteriorating my spirit

I am more than my edits, I become the punctuation on dark sides

I remind myself, no one can colonize the tongue of my inner mind

Indomitable, my voice, the will to power, find

Bury my burdens in the graves of control

Sweep the rich earth over to remind us of growth

I know the time has come, I can feel it in my soul

And all I can do is wait and hope new winds might grow,

that i might flutter to the nearest flower and quench my burning thirst

Towards the door I move, shaking as I go

A storm is coming and I will no longer stand back

To stand in the storm and face it is the only way to feel alive

Paul & Ray Jane Collaborative Poetry Writing Workshop

9/19/22

I get my lessons in healing

revealing the demons questioning my beauty

At 15, I jumped at every sound, uncomfortable in my own skin, tried to hide my womanhood by shrinking my own body.

Only the world picked me, like a delicate flower—expecting me to grow from seed to vase—but I’m a thorn, pricking fingers as I'm held too tight in the crushing palm of expectation.

life slips through my fingers, drops to the ground, i am healing before broken, shards spread across, my path, pieces crawl together forward

I run towards the healing horizon

With indigo skies and the fullest clouds clearing my conscience and opening my vision.

I summon lightning, to follow furious thunder rolling, to strike with enlightening, elegant energy to spark new ideas..

I call to that spark, to reach into my heart, and light that idea aflame

I will no longer tame my dreams. Aspiring to achieve much more. Travel to earth's core.

Sometimes the body fractures to heal itself, to make you make pay attention to the passing of time

The time passes with the medicine of the golden sun. The warmth are the arms to my clock now.

As the pendulum swings I hear the beating of my heart in sync with the clockwork of being

time flowing through fingers desperate to hold on to sand crystals

If the granules of sand in the hourglass shattered

my heart tries to beat with the rhythm of the cuckoo bird that exits the clock every half-hour and fly away to freedom

Ray Jane Cycles Workshop

Oct 16, 2022

Cycles: The Soft Life

“forgiveness comes when you give it to yourself”

“A gift gold-encrusted with amber-scented liberation”

Will set the soul free. Shifting the energy within thee.

let those burdens go, easily, mark the time with rejoicing, bawdily

when the gold leaf peeled away

the amber melted and released a lone bee

that got caught in sap for centuries

and found a world where his hive no longer exists

Here I flee to make glee

Until every colour blends itself back to infinity.

Ray Jane Cycles: Mouthful of Identity

11/27/22

it is evident that you have read my magic”

though it is unwritten my magic can still be read by an adept

Read, shared and experienced by others

Listener who cares enough to hear

Listener who cares enough to hear…like one who leaves their phone in the pocket, knows the texture of what is painted

If I were stardust, what color would I become in my own fire?

The rich red and black soil of the earth

of what is painted on the underside of their soul

Something unique, each wound different but similar in pain

Ray Jane Cycles Workshop

Oct 16, 2022

Cycles: In the Col(lab)

We move like we know it’s just us

where i put my feet is ground we have cultivated together

If I can pause outside time, and have only our time move forward it will still not be enough time

a dance of happiness free from judgement and safe from harm

Because the matrix and algorithms be doing the most.

Without fuss. We are one in the same without lust leading us to touch. Intimacy a must

“Sharing certain looks in silence but their meaning speaks volumes”

2024

2023

2022

ART DEFINED

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