We Can Grow or Wither
This series explores the themes of hardships and resilience, exclusions and triumphs, and ultimately the path of healing. Most importantly, this series is celebrating each woman and their journey, how they have mended themselves.
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The textured
And fragmented
Inflicted with too many scars
Who were we?
Will we survive?
Who will remember?
Piecing
Growing
And stitching
Ourselves back together
For a society
That thrives on pain
And division
Doesn’t understand
The cost
Of just surviving
The agony
The torment
The light
Being taken away
But yet
We stand
And
We fight
For the light
To glow
We aren’t
Tragedies
We are a force
Who are we?
Not the inflicted scars
Or
The catastrophes
That have invaded our lives
Nor
The nightmares
Of our past
We are Women
Weaving
Ourselves
Back together
Do you hear us?
Now, listen closely
We Are a Force
12 x 12 inches, screenprint ink, fabric, soft pastel, crochet edge, and yarn
The series, We Are A Force, investigates the burdens that women space, especially the scars we carry and how incredible it is to witness how people can heal and grow. This series further explores how we are all still here and thriving, we are continuing life, and that is pretty precious.
Wildflower
Who was I?
Will I survive?
A life disguised
As a tapestry of difficulties
Born with an auditory processing disorder
And labeled
Labeled
Labeled as not smart
Misunderstood from
The beginning
Tortured from age six
Up to age thirteen
Oh the cries
Oh the pain of
Trying and trying
To make sense
Of
Who was I?
Will I survive?
Years and years
Of speech
Balance
And eye therapy
Just to be understood
A life disguised
Still
Still
Labeled as not smart
But labeled indeed
As a jock
A life disguised
Told over and over again
Success was not meant
To be
A life disguised
Fighting for a chance
Or even an acknowledgement
For it to never come
How does one go on?
A new life
The excitement
That
Turns to ashes
Anger
Shame
And embarrassment rise
How does one go on?
Sexually assaulted by nineteen
It’s like a distant
Memory now
Maybe shoved
Too far down
The constant
Reminder of your therapist
Blaming you
Do you hear me?
1, 2, 3...
And 9 years pass
The self-loathing
vanished
Like stars at dawn
The shame
And anger
Vanishes
Do you hear me?
Blossoming
Rising
Stitching
Every fiber
Back together
Celebrating the power
Of womanhood
The strength
But truth be told
This is just a glimpse
Of the many scars a
Woman can carry
Are you ready for more?
Maybe not
Loving bombing
Bread crumbing
and
ghosting
not once
not twice
but
eight times
Sure you want more?
Self-doubt
Is not a joke
It rises to the surface
Flashback
After flashback
But
Who am I?
I am
A force that is unmatched
A woman
That has lost
I said lost
My identity over and over again
but do you hear me?
I am blossoming
Rising
I have stitched every fiber of myself back together
Can you believe it?
In a world that
Thrives on
Division
And even repetition
Can history be stopped?
Is human decency too far gone
Why must we control others
It is sickening
Now listen closely
Pain comes and
Goes
In many forms
We all have stories
That need to be heard
We all have scars
That need to be mended
Now listen
Listen closely
Learn
and
Acknowledge each other
For every story is different
And let’s
Stop repeating history
And remember empathy and courage
For we all need it
Her Womanhood
This is a poem inspired by the story of Summer. This story is about embracing all of your womanhood and girl power within each other.
She is a woman
That has
Flourished her independence strength
Since her childhood
A woman that
Has
Welcomed her
Womanhood
Since the beginning
She is a woman
That has been surrounded
By girl-power
A woman that
Was thrust
Into a life full of sisters
She is a woman
That was gifted
The shield of
Protection
Against sexism
Within her family
A woman that has stood in
Her power
But none the less
She is a woman
That has
Endured
And
Has had
Her trust fragmented
A woman that has
Experienced the absent of
Consent being granted to her
A woman that has
Experienced a compulsive liar
a cheater
cheater
I said, cheater
She is a woman
That has not allowed
These experiences
To shatter her confidence
She is a woman that stands in her positivity
Rising above
Loving herself
This is Summer
Uniquely Different
This is a poem inspired by the story of Rachel. This story is about the pressures of feeling small and taking up space
Do you understand
The constant pressure of navigating a rural space
Where your identity and creativity
Felt othered at a
Young age
Do you know the feeling of
Being
Uniquely Different?
From the ups
And the downs
to being
singled out
to
constantly
proving your worth
as a female sculptor
Even navigating the hardships that a woman can face?
From Love bombing
To
Gaslighting
A part of life that is healed
But none the less
An exhausting
And confusing
One
I truly hope that
You are unfamiliar with such
Experiences
I know they placed a heavy burden on you from the start
Made your feel othered
But my dear
You are uniquely different
You are standing in your powering
Fully healed
Blooming
And
Granting yourself and others
Space to just exist
This is Rachel fully shining