Literary Impulse & Paper Poetry “Eudaimonia” Prompt Submission

As I see my soul reflected in Nature,
As I see through a mist, One with inexpressible completeness, sanity, beauty,
See the bent head and arms folded over the breast, the Female I see.
~ Walt, Whitman, I Sing the Body Electric

He sang her body
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
e -l-e-c-t-r-i-c
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
honouring
maternity
nature
divinity
and the soul

Taking only what is granted
never plundering
or mining for blood diamonds
rubies, emeralds, or gold

The female form is ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ e -l-e-c-t-r-i-c ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ he sang it felt it spoke it to cherish the gateway to life in all of its wonder curves…

The time between the
first and second lockdown
was like a lucid dream:

awake but not awake
dreaming but not dreaming
in control and out of control
sleeping and awakening
aware and unaware
knowing and not knowing
looking and finding
healing and minding
masking and unmasking
waiting and starting
stopping and going

Now that we’re in
the thick of the fog again
I can’t remember what
that dream was all about
it was like a pause
except it wasn’t a pause
it was a life ~ on hold ~
learning new dreams to dream:

how to hold them how to…

Instead of worrying about a “Reputation”

When the Brotherhood Code Prevailed

He broke up with me at the end of the summer of 1992. That summer I had gone to sleepover camp at the age of 13. We had just started a new friendship that grew into a relationship — and I was kind of crazy about him. But since we knew I was going to be making new friends and be away for a month (that was like forever at that age), he told me that there were no strings attached.

Even though he had agreed that I could meet a short-term boyfriend there…

When I woke up my body was tingling all over and a tepid mist washed over me. My mind felt at peace and I had a satisfied grin on my face. I could still feel the rhythmic pulsations between my legs. I wanted to keep riding that wave. It’s spectacular how one can reach orgasm while sleeping without human touch. How’s that for a mind fuck? Imagine how glorious it would be to awaken from a lucid sex dream? But first, you need to learn how to lucid dream before you can eventually sexplore in la-la land, and maybe even…

Through my journey of recovering from a love-hate relationship with my body to one of self-compassion, I learned how to release internalized grief. I accomplished this shift in mindset by seeking wellness practitioners, listening to my body, and becoming comfortable enough to embrace nude beaches.

But before I got to this place, there were 4 experiences that led to this love-hate dynamic:
1) Having to justify not having a breast reduction.
2) Birthing and needing repeat C-sections.
3) Experiencing secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriages.
4) Struggling to accept my post-partum body.

Releasing Grief from the Mind and Body

Throughout my life, I have been pretty body-positive but…

The other night when my husband and I were talking about how I had become a Top Writer in Feminism, he said “But I don’t think of you as a feminist.” And I said, “When it comes to my thoughts on reclaiming female sexual empowerment, you think of me that way, right?” And he agreed. But then it made me think about all of the personal reasons that spurred me to define myself as a feminist, and so here they are in a stream of consciousness order:

1. Watching my Grandmothers with Empathy

I picture my abuela slumped over the hot oven, working hard day in…

A POEM

Sometimes you just want
a pretty pound of flesh
like an undiscerning cannibal
to have
and to hold
to feast and
to mold
to baste and to
bask
to rub and to season
to marinade and to grill
just long enough
that it shrills!
like a lobster
splashing in the pan