Showing posts with label The Worth of the Feminine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Worth of the Feminine. Show all posts

Saturday, December 5, 2015

Death & I Are Feuding

Merry Christmas y'all, here's a Saturday Post!


I have to find my way
With fear and trembling
It's hard to walk in the light
There's so much shadow and shade
In the valley of the shadow

Death and I are feuding
It came for me
Tried to shame my body
My life
My home
My love

I have to find my way
Looking to the Light
It's hard to walk in this way
Slivers and scales on my eyes
In the valley of the shadow

Death and I are feuding
It came for me
Tried to take my children
My dreams
My hope
My heart

This is not the desert
This is just the dark
It's hard to look for light
The hands that guide can't find me

Death and I are feuding
Here in a healing heart
But I keep on fighting
For life
For legacy
For glory

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo
Yours Truly, Summer 2011
© Tiffany Monique


Saturday, November 14, 2015

Body Fiction 3

Happy Saturday Post - I'm thankful for the life I've been given, and the stories I've been asked to post between now and the end of the year. Stay tuned! 

Meanwhile...

***
Six Separate Thoughts - Part III

My scars are my best friend and painfully we show
He waits- a gentleman with outstretched hand
On display broken, seething bloody glow
My pride is a garment of sifting sand

He stands to the side while I flail about
For the storm to peter out

He laughs at my rage when I move as if solo
The lines within which I am free court cliffs
His correction abrupt when I push past where to go
Under my shoulder he helps my missteps

We argue over ownership
Kingdoms via bodies and lips

It's lonely in the space of justified anger
How dare he prove and show my lack
In this way emotions can not linger
I was untethered 'til he pulled me back

His loving acceptance a lighthouse at sea
Returning home, not yet free

He massages my foot like he's invoking a shaman's spell
As if my deformation is his most prized possession
His thumbs are the lovers of my arches, ankles, heels
The somehow lost wholeness he calls to attention

And I can march to the tune of his love
My limp is a hitch kick on hold

He asks me to waltz knowing I won't really do well
As if my lacking dancer is somehow in session
He takes my wrists- holding smoke and steel
Touch whispers fly while my soul screams broken

From here to heaven I don't dare fly
His caress dreams that I try

***

For Seddy Bear - with three more to go before the end of November.

With words, song & prayer,
Tiffany Vakilian
© 2015 Highlight Video Productions

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Body Fiction 2

To keep a promise, here's a bit of a different Saturday Post!

***
Six Separate Thoughts - Part II

From the hospital bed of a young woman:
It's the toe that pushes the accelerator. It’s the toe that puts the adrenaline and momentum in Vin Diesel’s inner thigh, and then in my imagination. All those car chases, all those dances with death. Ballet pointed toes with bullets and leaps across cliffs; leaps that I can’t do anymore. Then I watch Breakin’ 2 and crack up at the Boogaloo.
Right now I watch.
Meanwhile is healing. Meanwhile is pain. Meanwhile is trying not to drown in Percocet. Meanwhile are a million stupid detailed memories of things I will not be able to do. Even something as stupid as cracking my toe, which my mother hated, is something I will miss.
But I must remain positive. At least Mom won’t nag me about that anymore. And there’s the movies - Bond, Transporter, Fast & Furious. All of my friends vicarious. I’m in between.
All I have to do is choose, right? That’s what my big brother always said. “Once you make a choice, you’ll have more peace.” So, I choose. I choose to get up, to live, to fight, to honor the body part I lost by making it the underpinning of my future determination to thrive. I’m going to save my money and modify my whole frickin’ life to do the two things most unexpected of me in this new body.
First I’ve got to tell the doctors to stop acting like I’m dead already. I’m not dead, and I’m not letting their opinions of my sitch stop me. If Jason Statham can go from outdoor salesman to box office action star, then I can learn to walk without one of my big toes.
Once that’s done, I’ve got to tell my family to stop looking at me like a broken bird. It was bad enough after the accident, staring at my foot like it would suck them through the bandages into parts unknown. They stopped seeing me, choosing to focus on my one missing body part. A spotlight on phantom pain, and the irony of it is not lost on me.
Maybe I should get a new wardrobe. T-shirts with awesome slogans. STARE AT MY MISSING TOE SOME MORE PLEASE or WANNA HELP ME FIND MY TOE? What would that song Speed Demon inspire in a nine-toed woman’s t-shirt? I’ll make finding that out number 3 on my list.
Once I get out of this hospital bed, and through physical therapy, I’m going to learn how to race cars. I’m going to learn how to dance. Drive and dance.
I’m still frickin’ here people!

***
© 1984
Breakin’ 2 – Electric Boogaloo

For Seddybear - Thanks for the prompt!
With words, song & prayer,
TiMo V

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Body Fiction 1

To keep a promise, here's a bit of a different Saturday Post!

***
Six Separate Thoughts - Part 1

The shoes were pinched. They were jewel encrusted, heeled, and satin underneath her petticoat, but they were pinched. No wiggle room; certainly no air. Still, they were just too pretty to remain hidden under a dress encircling three feet round. Shoes of such beauty should be seen. Unfortunately for the young lady, ankles in this era should not.
Foolish intrigues amongst these powerful families annoy me, with gilded goblets and gossip, but I’m the part that makes the magic, and she paid with her toe.
In this guise, no one cares about me unless I hurt, fall off, or need painting. Foot hygiene bordering on the manic is the rage in London these days, so painting isn’t big here yet. It will be. Perhaps I’ll be put to use again. A new body, part of a new woman, a new time, a new future, a new past.
As soon as the deed is done, I’m leaving.
The slide-roll-slide friction of her gait was something akin to a rude massage. The relief when she sat down felt decadent, like butter on toasted bread. Unfortunately it was not too long before she was asked to dance by our conquest, ending my respite with an extended hand.
If I had a neck, I would have rolled it in preparation for the grand performance. Sensation ceased. A cinnamon and pepper spark inside my soul began flickering tiny fire, and while wrapped in perfect etiquette, I sent my yeasty dream up his spine, into the crook of the neck with the gentlest kiss of a single fingertip sensation, behind and then into his ear; felt more than heard.
“Mine.”
I returned bodily to the discomfort within her squish-pull-point lope about the ballroom. The sheerest curtain of frenzy fell around them, as if they were the only two in the room. A passionate air current ribbon wove tendrils around their never-touching wrists. The most accidental graze between the backs of hands, scandalous despite the gloves, began a storm of flipping fans, adding air to the fire. I claim full credit as the arsonist.
They’ll be married by Michaelmas, and her child will have a last name of good standing, within the same bloodline no less.
Time to go.
It actually works in her favor. It will hurt when I take my leave, and she’ll most certainly stumble. Perhaps there will be a fall, and the dutiful if not suddenly attentive fiancĂ©-to-be will save her publicly. She’ll have a lock of her hair in his coat pocket before the end of the night.
It is a shame about the shoes though.
***
For Seddybear - This was fun!
With words, song & prayer,
TiMo V

Saturday, October 31, 2015

One the Eve of our First Anniversary

Happy Saturday to you! Here's your Saturday Post!

To my other, in honor of his significance
She carries the moon in her womb
And the words in her wrist
And the skin of her mothers on her elbows and knees
She has her dream
Come true
And deferred
And he loves her
In the clouds
And on the ground
And under the ground

She carries the song in her heart
Which is still healing
She carries the sass in her hips
Which are still in pain
She considers her star shining
And fallen
And he loves her
In the sky
And in the resting mist
And in the bog

They don't understand the love
And they understand it all too well
They don't get to dance that way
Not all of them
But we love
For love is stronger
Than the burning heat of the sun
And the reflected light of the moon
And to the place of death

She carries the moon
And he walks with her
And He carries them both sometimes
With blood and gore and tears
With or without footprint
For sometimes
They fly together
And they stand still together
And they rest together

With words, song and prayer
TiMo V

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Brown Round Things - For Somi

You India me
About my hair
I am not it
But you've tagged me
Calling me out
Sliding down my beloved ringlets
I'm it now
Finally home
After Celtic journeys
Those knots
Not my nots
My nots are no longer my knots
I am a yes now
I own it
I say it out loud
I am the black fae
Hidden from me
By my own self
Til
Recently
I
My own wicked stepsister
But now I've saved them
Save my brown round things
No longer for sale
I've apologized
And now I'm planting seeds
I stand hopeful
Cynical
With my sisters
And brothers
Us sistas and bruthas
Us Fae
Not African
Not American
But here nonetheless
And thanking you
For calling out
The brown round things
For sale



With words, song & prayer, TiMo

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Pme & Qme

In honor of Seddy Bear Day, and because I couldn't send birthday flowers...

Shout in the cafeteria
All eyes on me
All I knew to be
Pme
In spotlight
Brighter
Than that shining on me
Painful even
She didn't see me
I was too busy
Being on display

Then Qme
A new me
Came up to the fore
Never before
And she found me
Refreshingly
Genuine
As did I
Authenticated through art
My self expression
Helped her express
Hi my name is
Let's befriend

And then the adventures
Academic and rebellious
God in the face of thesis
Linguistic
And inappropriate
God in the midst of trauma
Holding hearts
Lifting hands
My sister girl
My hashtag
Chocolate don't play
Today is her day

Don't think I'd be me
Had God not seen
To match our residencies
Many words past and present
Future poetry
Our friendship
Strong like oak
Meek like palm
And I celebrate on
Honored by her virtual presence
Let alone her in truth

Dartmouth, Burlington, Seven Mile, Arlington, Virginia, Plainfield - I've seen states (and states) with my friend Sarah. All I can do today is celebrate her honesty, her perseverance, her spirit, her comedy, her boldness, her bravery, her heart, her taste in food, in cars, in friends... It takes a strong woman to admit to being afraid, and wrong, and unafraid, and right. I've seen her do these things - and dance with random dudes at the karaoke bar in Burlington. I've defended her, been corrected by her, ran from what she faced boldly, and held the full weight of her praise. This one is a beautiful soul, and she calls me friend. Thank you God, for blessing me with such a diamond as her.

With words, song & prayer, TiMo


‪#‎UDPPbook‬ ‪#‎booklaunchparty‬ ‪#‎workthatwork‬ ‪#‎HVP‬ ‪#‎AWordWithYouPress‬
Book Launch Press Release - http://t.co/183kOoLHe2

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

A Royal Daughter

Had she been my own daughter, I couldn't be more proud of the woman she has become. I wish to honor her today.

I have
A good friend V
Standing strong
In the face of sorrow
And conflict
In the same
Situation
-I did not stand so
Bravely
She humbles me

She asked previously
For advice
About her situation
And after referring up
I told her
The best advice I could
"Walk out your royalty"
She did
-In the same situation
Shaped for myself
I did not

Kudos to my friend
Of whom
I am most proud
She is a living epistle
A post-it note
For my soul
A beautiful heart
Showing love
In a
Somewhat
Or Seriously
Unloving situation
I bow.

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo

Monday, July 20, 2015

Borrowed Children

I am thankful for my borrowed children
As I am thankful for this borrowed time
We no longer stay here for centuries
And none of us gets out alive

We are here
Today
And I am grateful

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo
Onward Looking
© Tiffany Monique February 2014

Saturday, July 11, 2015

Two Gold Lines

Hey hey! Here is your Saturday Post!

This is my time, to sit, to sip, to look, to listen
This is my space, for pondering, for dancing, for writing, for singing
This is my joy, loving, giving, hoping, living
And learning
Let's not forget that
***
I am tacitly mindful of the length of my posts, and weight of my words. Someone taught me, I think it was Mom, that words are like toothpaste - once out of the tube, they can't go back in. I've been failing, and succeeding at that whole "keep it in the tube" way. Even the bible talks about it - "The tongue is a “small part of the body” (James 3:5), yet Proverbs 18:21 says it “has the power of life and death.”" There are a great deal of self-help books and gurus who basically say the same thing, "watch what you say...", and I just want to shout out to the writers... WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! Watch it grow, change people, start or stop wars. King David was a psalmist. Solomon was a song writer. I am a griotte! I claim it. I own it. I walk in it. And I share the joy of it. As you may or may not know, my first solo book of poetry has been published, and I can't be more humbled by the hard work that so many people put in. Thornton Sully, CEO of A Word With You Press, saw me at one of his writer's group dinners, and became my friend and mentor, even though he's admitted to lacking weight as a connoisseur of poetry. But for my non-poetry works, he's a beast of an editor (in the best way), and someone whose criticism I truly respect.

A Word With You Press has a contest with a 7.00 entry fee and a 350 word limit. The contest ends this coming Wednesday. Even though my book is now in their catalog (with more to come!), and I will never win because I'm basically staff, I submit a piece every time there's a contest. I will always participate, not just because of the awe-inspiring feedback, but because I believe in the mission of this publishing house - to put gravitas on a low carb diet. As the type of poet I want to be -  well, gravitas comes with the pen and paper. Yes, tech aside, I have journals everywhere...

​I digress.

The following was edited out of my submission, but it's so fun to write, and every time I read it I smile to myself... Enjoy!​
Mama has been harpin’ on Brook to “cover her cooty cat ‘fore the smell of her in heat attracts all the Tom cats from Dana Point”. Maybe if I dressed like that for Kimber, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Yeah right, my sexiness was never an issue. It always came back to the kids.
If you would like to read the full piece Two Gold Lines, please click here...

With words, song & prayer
TiMo

Thorn & Me - The Day He Saw the Book 
P.S.
Blackbird
Bluest Eye
Bone straight hair
Skinny thigh
This is not I
This is part I
This in part I
This impart I
Winged creature fly
Dragon
Fly
Dragonfly
This is I
This is why

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Wife of the Skies

Happy National Poetry Month! Here is your Saturday Post!

Who is the wife of the skies
The clouds
The wind
What is her favorite color
Blood moon red
Morning cloud pink
Does she sit down to coffee
with her friend lightning
that sparkly sista
as if one had a clue how to
handle my lightning self
Is she jealous
Grabby
Codependent
Or is she cavalier
How does she make love
Storms
Seas
What is her favorite perfume
Orange blossoms
Jasmine
I wonder if I know her somehow




With words, song & prayer,

TiMo
Yours Truly, Summer 2011
© Tiffany Monique


Saturday, March 28, 2015

Prosed Trio

Hey Hey! Here's a Saturday post!

4/27/09

   This is my dowry. I am a wife, and my words are my proof of the paid bride-price. I write love because I am a lover. I have tried being not me, and it poisons. My words offer healing from my precious, God-beloved heart. He makes love to me through a sentence, a cadence, a sounded sound.
   Behold your handmaid, Lord. You show Yourself off in Your wonderful handiwork, and I praise You for the me You made.
   Ans here it is that I find I'm a kept woman. A beloved. A wife. A princess. A queen. God's temple and His handmaid. I will NEVER stop saying so.


Immersion

God can take a chord progression and baptize me in sound.
Imagine how it could be, a video of love and sound.
Candlelight in a dark room.
Not coupled, but dancing.
Not joined but connected.
And the camera moves around in a slow circle, never really below the shoulder. 
Together and separate. 
In the dark, but lit. 
And then the fingertips rise and touch.
The crescendo is simply a gentle kiss of the hand to the hand.


Teresa Mother

To a past mothering
Teresa and friends were there
I was there too
It was 1996
 Still engaged with
My sense of entitlement
And breaking out
Of my broken shell
We sang together
And ate together
And threw stuffed animals
In movie theaters together
She fed me more times than I could count
Denny's makes me
Think of her
I couldn't see
Her mothering of me
For the blessing that it was
And now that I am older
And consider that
Great time in my life
I see now
Her mothering of me


With words, song & prayer, TiMo
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com
Onward Looking
© Tiffany Monique February 2014

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Me As A Day

From 1997 with love, here is your Saturday post!

Breathe me in like the morning
Take me into you
Let me watch you sleeping
So I'm the one you wake up too

Have me as a day

Wake up to my sunshine
My rays of warmth and love
See my ethereal beauty
Given by God above

Have me as a day

Take me as a beautiful day
As a powerful sunset
Watch me grow like a tree
Rooted in ground soft and wet

Have me as a day

Be a part of my moonlight
My beauteous evening star
See through my grace and gifts
And find in me who you are

Have me as a day

With words, song & prayer,
TiMo
Here's where you can read me:
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com
Yours Truly, Summer 2011
© Tiffany Monique


Saturday, February 28, 2015

Pampered

Hello there! Here's your Saturday post!

We came together simply for food and wine 
But then we began to tell our stories
And it tasted so good
Like pretzels in warm dip
We healed each other
Helped each other
Enjoyed each other
We brought each our own grown up girl-child magic
And by God we changed each other
Our woman-ness filled the room decadently
Like chocolate S'mores cake
It was a rite we performed
We swam together in the river beneath the river
Where our souls resided
First as individuals
And then together
We feasted on the beauty of our femininity
And became light headed on our connection
It was not the wine
It was the feral nature of ourselves to nurture one another
And oh how we did
We went skinny dipping in our stories
Naked to one another
And through our giving of personal poetry
We gave strength to ourselves
Or at least I felt it within me
And it was most satisfying

~~~ ~~~ ~~~
I'd like to dedicate the above words to the ladies I met at Ashley's Pampered Chef Party.

We all went there with different agendas, but we were well met. We pinged each other to within an inch of sanity, and laughed the whole way! Thank you for waving your ugly drawers and pretty panties about, and sharing your stories with me. May God bless you all greatly for your present of presence and your words.

I am also humbly thankful to my sister in law, who made me go.
~~~ ~~~ ~~~
With words, song and prayer,
TiMo


Saturday, September 13, 2014

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

Saturday, August 30, 2014

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

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

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!

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Thanks again Mom

Happy Mother's Day... here's a special post!

I don't know about punching folks in the face...
but I am glad you're my Mom.
No matter what, I'm glad you're my Mom.
From a FB post
I don't know how many times you've been the place I bounce off of - thanks

You are silent when I scream, and scream for me when my voice is gone - thanks

You let me express myself, even at the cost of your own voice - thanks

You work 24/7 so your children and grandchildren can have, even when you don't - thanks

You saw the men in my life and told me, "not that one baby", even when I didn't listen - thanks

You pray for me every day, even when you're annoyed with me - thanks

Seriously, this list could go on forever, but thanks Mom, for every single thing.

EVERY single thing.

With words, song & prayer, TiMo
www.timobe.com
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com
Onward Looking
© Tiffany Monique February 2014

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Saturday Post 4.12.14

Inspired by the Image
While reviewing Hidden Treasures: A Collection of African American Facts on Examiner, I took to looking at this photo. I've been that mother, and I've been that little girl too. It is so powerful, being held. It is also truly powerful being the holder. The seasons change and from one moment to the next you become one and then the other. At one time giving the power to the one in need, and then receiving the power so needed. I love this representation for time in American history, but also as the photo of a mother holding a daughter, while simultaneously holding herself. Is that the heart of a mother? The heart of a woman? The heart of a human?

I find the duality once again PINGS me to Pme/Qme (the performer and the quiet one). The points of spectrum once again make me glad I learned of my own spectrum of authenticity and balance. I miss dual-expression workshops. Now I have the time to do them. Will I? Is it time to hold or time to be held?
Onward Looking
© Tiffany Monique February 2014

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Saturday Post 4.5.14

A Brief Thought on Beautiful

Last night
My friend Joy said something
About the power of a woman who feels
Beautiful
I can't remember what it was exactly
But the shoes I wore to last year's Christmas Party came to mind
And PING
I think I am getting a taste of what she means
The sum of the parts that make me
The sum of the parts that make me feel
The power of the sum
PING
Thanks for that remindering lady

December 2013
© Tiffany Monique

With words, song & prayer, TiMo
www.alwaysalreadyalright.blogspot.com
www.pmeqme.blogspot.com
Geode Dfly Love
December 2013 © Tiffany Monique