Six more days...

Hey there! Here's a Saturday Post!

Once Again I say, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!"
© 2015 Tiffany Monique

With words, song & prayer,
Tiffany V

© Straughn Films 2011

Thank Rafiki

Hey y'all! Happy Saturday! Here's a post for ya.

How this...

© November 2015 - Thanks Rafiki

turned into this...

© November 2015 - That Turkey is Smokin'

tells me that God is real, and that the Lion King Turkey Blessing works!

Seriously, I thank you all for the amazing support and love throughout the year.

2015 has been a year of reaping. 

Some things bloomed beautiful,

some things passed on,

and many things went

into a new phase.

A word of caution,

and a promise

none of us gets out of this alive

So enjoy the turkey

and run this race to win

With words, song & prayer
Tiffany V

Close to the Air

Happy Saturday Post!

Pushing up
Two centimeters 
Until the air
Not drowning
Is the same
As growing
From underground up
You have to do it
Or you'll die
And it is
Hard to do
But needful
Essential
Vital

Push.

A happy workday beginning -- © 2015 Tiffany V.

A Word with You Press' most current contest authors are anonymous. Try it. Just click here.

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo V

Yours Truly, Summer 2011
© Tiffany V.

Springs of Joy

Just because it's hot
Just because it's not
Just because I'm here
I'll share springs of joy
Not because my stores are full
Not because my hopes are empty
Not because it's Wednesday
I'll share springs of joy
Autumn and Summer duke it out
Winter and Spring watch for their turn
The holidays come and go like candy
And I'll share springs of joy
Just because I'm here
Just because you're here too
Just because it's there
I'll share springs of joy

With words, song & prayer
TiMo

It makes me smile...

Go After that Thing

For the singers battling their own voices - here is a Saturday Post!

Go hard after it

Whatever it is

That one thing

Learn that lesson

Lose that weight

That one thing

For me
It has always been
To freely sing
But I am learning how
And I will now
Do that one thing

Sometimes too big
Out of control
A cannon ring
Sometimes weak
Cracked and raw
Songs in a sling

I've given it up
I've gotten it back
It's a trick on string
I scream notes
I cry music
Give it wings

I go hard
To learn and be
God-help-me-ing
My voice is mine
I'll die for it
My life to bring

My poetry - my alter
I leave it here
I'm promising
To use my voice
No matter the cost
For truth-telling

Go hard after it

Whatever it is

That one thing

Follow that dreamscape

Or escape the dream

Do that one thing

With words, song & prayer,

TiMo

Yours Truly, Summer 2011
© Tiffany Monique

AWWYP Author Spotlight- Tiffany Vakilian!!!

As part of our ongoing series interviewing writers , authors and poets in the AWwYP stable, we’d like to highlight Tiffany Vakilian. Read on about her practice of writing (and singing) and about what grounds finding your voice.

You can read my interview HERE

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo

Yours Truly, Summer 2011
© Tiffany Monique

At the Bottom

For your consideration - a Saturday post.

 © 2014 Tiffany Monique

She saw a heart there
At the bottom of the cup
But as she drank deeper
It changed into a triangle
Surely then
She had to chase again

He saw it blue
At the bottom of the glass
But as he looked closer
It changed to a defect
Surely then
He had to chase again

Surely then
She had to chase again
Down there
To the bottom of the cup
Surely then
He had to chase again
There is no freedom
Yet it doesn't seem as such

She saw love
At the bottom of the glass
But as she fell deeper
It changed into a jail
Surely then
She had to run again

He saw himself
At the bottom of the cup
But as he searched harder
It changed into a lie
Surely then
He had to find again

Surely then
She had to chase again
Down there
To the bottom of the cup
Surely then
He had to chase again
There is no freedom
Yet it doesn't seem as such

This piece is not quite finished. I'd like to think they eventually leave the cup alone. But they haven't told me that part of the story yet.

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo

Happy Birthday Bro

In lieu of your Saturday Post – here is a post for Andrew:

I heard in an audio book (Proverbs for the People) that there is a traditional calling for one member of the generation to be the griot – historian of that generation (as I am female - I would be the griotte).

They are to learn the histories and tell the stories of the past and present, and feed forward to the next generation’s griot. I have never thought of it that way, but I’ve always known it to be true. I've been telling stories about Andrew since he passed out in Costa Rica.

Another proverb in that same audio book, that like it or not, as sure as the sun goes up and down, you gotta “make your 8”, meaning - “if a man don’t work, he don’t eat.” Andrew was a hard worker. I would venture to say he got it honest. All of the Beard’s did. Once decided, the job was done. It may take a while to get to the decision, but once made, the work is nothing but something to do. He was working hard, up to the moment he was no longer with us on this Earthly plane.

There is a verse in the bible that speaks of us being living epistles, read of all men, and I still read him. He’s a good study, full of intrigue and laughter, horror and joy. I wonder what his index would look like. I wonder how many of his life choices were influenced by the bible, by the people in his life, by the movies he watched. I’m sure Godfather would inform a lot of his non-essential moral questions.

Today is Andrew’s birthday. He would have been 43. He worked harder than a lot (most) of the people I know, and he didn’t do much in the way of complaining to me. He made it up in his mind to be the hero of our family circle, and he made his 8. We all saw him as a man, but I suppose we saw the S on his chest as well.

Andrew Richard Beard Jr.

June 26, 1972 - May 12, 2015

Ever the teacher-mentor. Love you Drew.
© Tiffany Monique 2009

Today the family is getting together and watching as much of the Godfather movie trilogy as we can stand.

Happy birthday, bro.

This may be the last post of mourning. This may not. I am honored to have the desire/drive to write, and I will make my 8. I think it would make Drew proud.

Whatever you do - do it with all you got. None of us gets out of this thing alive.

With word, song & prayer,
TV

Andrew and Yours Truly, 2009

Memory's Renaissance

Hey there! Here is your Saturday Post.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

It is another kind of birthing

Taking place here.

Rebirth

Of an old story.

Reaching back to mark the place

Coiled into one point in time.

A stone of remembered stories

Birthing into a singular story.

A story joining other stones.

Heavy and beautiful.

All these hands trying to help it along.

The healing begins.

Interesting.

We laugh and sigh, rage and cry, about different details.

We celebrate and shame.

The world keeps spinning.

Babies are born and bills are passed.

Breathing times and pushing times.

Economy of motion.

Those with the desire come alongside the process.

Helping progress. 

Some are constructive.

Some only mean to be.

A birthing canal of shared input.

And the story - the myth - the legacy -

The framework for a legend

Begins to move,

On its way to being born.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~

It is a bit heavy around the house still, but we try to push through. We keep busy, and try to accept things as they come. Despite our wishes, our world is still in motion ,but the continued prayers, gifts, and quality time (even via written word) are appreciated. On behalf of my family. THANK YOU for your part in this - all of you.

With words, song, and prayer,
TiMo

Light Heart Angel Road
© 2009 Tiffany Monique

Cooliyoshi

Having an AWESOME Saturday -  so here's your Saturday Post!

The way my family communicates is special, just like every other family. It was once described as 'high-functioning dysfunctional'.

Ugly drawers - pretty panties. That's my family.

We have our own language. Don't all siblings? Whether or not you're twins, there is something about being in the same learning space for decades, even if that space was as dynamic as our family's. 

Until I got married, one of my nicknames was Timobe (TEE moh BEE). Andrew of course had to make it his own, calling me Timoble (teeMOHblee) whenever he could. 

Right now, the ebb and flow of this language of ours is temporarily muted. Andrew can't leave me any more of the insane voicemails he loves leaving me until he wakes up from his induced coma. That fight I can't fight for him. I can't even fight it for my mother, down in Costa Rica sitting and praying with him whenever she has an opportunity.

This writing is my prayer. My fight. My heart is the pen of a ready writer, and I am reminded of the many victories of my family. Some have been told. Some I ponder in my heart.

I was texting with a musician-pal of mine about collaborating on a song. We finalized plans and I confirmed.

Cooliyoshi - A Family Word
© Tiffany Monique – May 2015

I say it all the time. Never a thought about it's lexicology.

My brother Andrew taught it to me, without even meaning to. Just one of those random things we'd say to one another. 

Our language, the family language, grew that way within the core of our interactions. Upon entry into adulthood some things stayed with us. Some things didn't.

Heard yesterday that he was more active than they'd seen since he collapsed in Costa Rica on April 11th. Eyes opening, moving his lips, and even a yawn! No news from the doctors, but I'd say Andrew is "tired" of being in bed, and perhaps wanting some non-hospital sanctioned food.

Cooliyoshi.

#AndrewwillRISE

With words, song & prayer, TiMo

October Time Capsule Update

Hey y'all! Here's your Saturday post!

Remember how I said, "...check back with me in January 2015 and I'll be done with at least one of these things", and then I made a list of them:

1. Mylu
2. Family Play - Title TBA
3. Workshop syllabus and invitees for Spring 2015
4. Something Musical - recorded


That was the plan. I even started on them, like I said I would. I was supposed to check back in January and one of them was supposed to be DONE.

Ummmmm.... 

 I've not completed ONE THING on that list. I would have loved for it to be Mylu, but she's currently a pile of broken bones healing through the song within her as she lets it out.

As she is, so am I.

Healing hurts something fierce sometimes, but I like the pain of healing far better than the pain of sickness. I went through a trial, and am coming out on the other side with writing followed by singing as my impetus to engage this part of the story (this part of that experience anyway).

But I did finish my book of poetry. I planned to publish in February, but February had other plans. So we shall see when it comes out and go from there. It's in post-production getting ready for a nice quiet launch into the universe... something understated, like Cape Canaveral in true late bloomer style.


"So many things are this way. Like LIFE."

With words, song and prayer,
TiMo

An Artistic Time Capsule - OPEN ME 1.23.15

I've been wanting to write so many things lately, but life has been playing chess with my plans.

I've had at least one idea for a play - a holiday meal with my cast of character family. Poetry coming out of my ears. I've been singing all the way to and from work, and this niggling feeling that I don't want my future children to think I gave up my creative side for the sake of a paycheck. I've signed up for my TLA Certification and I am planning on an invitation-only Dual Expression workshop for five women, once every couple months or so.

If I didn't share this with someone outside of me, I would let is sink back down and it would produce no fruit. So here's 90 seconds of me reminding myself to do these projects, share these thoughts, and invite those who are meant to join me to do so.

I invite you. I invite myself.

Check back with me in January 2015 and I'll be done with at least one of these things:
1. Mylu
2. Family Play - Title TBA
3. Workshop syllabus and invitees for Spring 2015
4. Something Musical - recorded

With words, song and prayer,
TiMo
Here's where you can read me
www.alwaysalreadyalright.blogspot.com
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Coffee... Oh How I Love Thee

Hey Y'all! Here's your Saturday Post!

Yep... this about sums it up.

Punta Cana Coffee Love
August 2014 © Tiffany Monique

With words, song & prayer,

TiMo
Here's where you can read me:
www.alwaysalreadyalright.com 
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Tell Your Story

Excellence to you and yours! Here's your Saturday Post!

I come from storytellers.

Our history is such that our mundane happenings become performances in sharing with others.

Last night, my brother reminded us of how he wrapped his desktop computer in a pink woven blanket, wrapped it with duct tape (for handles) and took it on a plane to England, just to have it  fry due to a faulty converter on his first plug in. The memory always made me smile, but last night's remindering lit my laugh muscles on fire for about five minutes. I'm still smoldering with hahaha's.

And so, for him (and some other people) -  here is a reminder to tell your stories.

I wrote this for a group of ladies at Goddard College, and now redirect the point to all storytellers, griots, cantadoras and the like.

Find your chairs, your trees, your stages and platforms. Your audience is already listening, whether you see them or not. The sun is going down, and it is time.

With words, song and prayer
TiMo

Here's where you can read me:
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Raw Man #2

Good day to you! Here is your Saturday Post!

There is so much more to this, but for now, here is the Examiner Article for Fred Rivera's Book Launch. The more I read of his novel, the more I am afraid to, but the more I need to. I'm looking forward to writing and sharing this book review as a rite of passage and a forgiveness of the ignorance I used to own when it came to the war in Vietnam and PTSD.

Raw Man Launch
© Tiffany Monique 8.23.14

With words, song & prayer, TiMo
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Onward Looking

© Tiffany Monique February 2014

How Much?

With much joy, here is this week's Saturday Post:

For Tony Vakilian 7/27/14 and 11/1/14

© Tiffany Monique

With words, song & prayer, TiMo
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Onward Looking

© Tiffany Monique February 2014

The House, The House, The House

Hello to you! Here's your Saturday Post:

The House, The House, The House

Dedicated to Brother Mike and Church in Ramona

I have learned that I can not give what I do not have.

I have learned that I can not change a single person.

I can change my self, and then my home, and then my social environment.

A house, in a house, a part of a house,
and as the hierarchy is strengthened within me,
I thank God for the peace it has bought me.

House 1 is me, my spirit, soul and body. It is my first and deepest root to God and to humanity.

House 2 is my family, by blood or adoption. These people should receive the best of my time and attention from the best place just outside of myself.

House 3 is my community, my fellow man. It is my duty to bring whatever joy I can to these people, by involvement or absence.

Inside of me

Inside my house

A part of my kingdom

I am a person

Inside a group

A part of a people

I have a temple
My family is a temple
Within the kingdom known as "world"
But first my temple
And then my family
Before the world to show the world

DT Fountain, Ramona CA
© Tiffany Monique, July 2014

With words, song and prayer,

TiMo

Here's where you can read me

www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

A ChoreoPictoPoem

© Tiffany Monique, March 2014

Love you SD

Good day to you! Here is this week's Saturday Post:

Geode Dfly Love

December 2013 © Tiffany Monique

San Diego, I love you.

Traffic is like a matrix of frustration and beauty. I drove on the 5 near Encinitas, and the light from the Pacific cried my name in the "go home traffic". It wasn't welcome home it was, "I'd hug you but I don't have arms." I am home. I am in my physical artistic space that makes me feel like I can reflect like a prism. Long winding roads, avocados, rolled tacos from a restaurant ending in 'ertos, and oh yes, the marine layer (it's like even the coast is a late sleeper). 5,78, 63, 79, 8, 10 are the numbers of my life sometimes. Just wanted to speak my love of SD. I love the whole of USA, but just wanted to give it up to SoCal for a second.

I got time. It's 5:00 o'clock on a weekday and I'm driving Northbound ( at least it was when I considered this post).

With words, song & prayer, TiMo
www.timobe.com
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Onward Looking

© Tiffany Monique February 2014

Educational?

Welcome back! Here is this Saturday's post!

2011 - Montpelier, Vermont

I am finding myself reaching out to my Goddardites... in thought, letter and verse.

I find it a good thing. One of my most harrowing rites of passage and "best platforms from which to jump beyond myself..." is singing silly memories to me.

Or maybe I just saw that student loan letter.

Hmmmm.

With words, song & prayer,

TiMo
Here's where you can read me:
www.alwaysalreadyalright.blogspot.com 
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

Accountability Includes Silence

Hey there and welcome back!

I've been doing some marvelous on-the-ground changes of late, to include prepping for married life and home making. There have been brief moments of inspiration, but the groove of moving furniture and washing Venetian blinds kept my hands  busy. It's a magical rhythm... dreaming, conceiving, engaging, working, realizing, resting. Lather, rinse and repeat. On so many levels. Pme and Qme are forging steel bonds with each other, and maturity is making a royal appearance in my hegemony. It is humbling and exciting. But more than that, it is peaceful. I'll be posting more soon.

© Tiffany Monique 6.24.14
"Bright Echo"

With words, song & prayer,

TiMo
Here's where you can read me:
www.alwaysalreadyalright.com 
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com

P.S. Poetry is abounding, but also some possible publishing... stay tuned!