tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81473082011-12-06T22:16:56.942-05:00Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comBlogger1031100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-28319980459673204202011-11-14T17:01:00.000-05:002011-11-14T17:01:13.231-05:00

On November 10, 2011, the Haitian Students Association of Cornell University brought me to Ithaca, New York to perform poetry. I loved every minute of my quick and memorable visit. The students were hospitable and bright, Cornell's architecture is stunning and, like the T-shirt slogan says, "Ithaca is gorges."

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-59615896984426763902011-10-20T11:32:00.010-04:002011-10-20T14:14:30.093-04:00

kissed there myself my poem wears a skirt & tells the truth the only blush on her  brushed on cinnamon  her name she shameless  flaunts sequins clutches  dutch wax headscarves struts in hand painted clogs  for comfort & fishnet stockings  just because my poem will  turn her head if you call oshun  holds mirrors for court  conch shell for microphone

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-36852073579289355822011-10-10T18:09:00.005-04:002011-10-11T12:33:00.615-04:00

every second monday in october christopher of arrogance born on halloween arthritic midas hand lost pawn of spanish queen a cross across the water bloodshed for sugar, fame flagship of terror, colón: list the dead after his name arawak precursors plagued by his greed & occupation the old earth, wide & round before his underestimation the holy spirit danced before europe dubbed her hips

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-80625813694458900412011-10-05T15:31:00.001-04:002011-10-06T20:23:27.000-04:00

gift a sea after i became grandfather called me dry nasty names stood small in my kitchen baking hisses at midnight praying rocks against the women in my love but before when i was tiny thirsty he bought me a vintage typewriter heavy & teal it splashed under my palms a thrifted gift a sea in my blood the first tool my damp fingers used to cool & name my self. © 2011 by Lenelle Moïse

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-90956614149615044892011-07-26T20:15:00.001-04:002011-07-26T20:18:16.816-04:00

My favorite works of art combine rhythm and grace, expose process and celebrate human effort. These ingredients are palpable in performance artist Tony Orrico's Penwald series. He engages every inch of his dancer's body to make elegant bilateral drawings. Orrico doesn't just use graphite on paper - he is graphite on paper. It took an athletic 1000 strokes to make "Penwald: 1: 1 circle," below.

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-12947696823383726582011-07-21T15:40:00.001-04:002011-07-22T08:56:28.153-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-20779086617707839332011-05-25T09:48:00.000-04:002011-05-25T09:48:43.495-04:00

"We still aren’t accustomed to women taking up space, to women filling our visual fields, to women holding our attention with their stories. Solo performance is a richly evocative genre that does all of these things with clarity and power." -Jill Dolan. Read more here.

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-83998920057450874112011-05-02T17:08:00.004-04:002011-05-02T17:15:57.784-04:00

maydaywhat are we going to feelwhen it’s us?when hive planes corrupta sky above ducked headswhen water dirtywhen thirstwhen every utterance within earshotitalicized/ exclaimedwhat when the ceiling tarpaulinwhen sidewalk for hospital/ rubble for sidewalkwhen sticky faces of neighborsstatisticwhen all the home we knewnews now?we will want someone to call itwar thento mark our rowdy gravesby name &

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-72664311586229037262011-03-05T17:31:00.022-05:002011-05-25T09:51:47.237-04:00

Today I woke up at 4:15AM to meet with a dozen other early birdwatchers. We were determined to see Sandhill Cranes rise out of the Platte River in Kearney, Nebraska. The experience was magical and meditative. I'll always remember the stars winking above our layered, shivering bodies, and the careful crunching of human feet. We navigated a dark, cleared path to the water. We spilled into a

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-87238692776888029242010-12-24T15:31:00.003-05:002010-12-24T16:03:42.795-05:00

It's December 24th. My apartment smells like clementines and balsam fir. My presents are wrapped - absurdly. I'm thinking of you. Have you successfully avoided the mall? Are you scrambling to stuff stockings and turkeys? Tofurkeys? Studying a Chinese take-out menu? Greeting family in your best and warmest clothes? Still in flannel pajamas, posting love notes on FaceBook? I just wanted to take a

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-9467547921570611042010-12-13T15:22:00.006-05:002010-12-20T17:27:35.117-05:00

Baby, it's cold outside! Maybe this music video will warm you up? "Roller Coaster" is the fourth track from my newest CD, The Expatriate Amplification Project.  I composed it during a residency at Hedgebrook - sitting on the floor, alone with my loop machine, staring at an evergreen through a glorious skylight, wearing too big headphones and the widest grin. Need a gift idea? (Hint,

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-28850458104601186342010-12-03T16:33:00.001-05:002010-12-03T16:35:53.586-05:00

Clearly, London-based fashion designer, Duro Olowu, creates clothes for dreamers, performance poets and serious (but exuberant) lovers. Forget Winter with its offensively low temperatures and vitamin-D deficient mood swings! I'm singing in time with Olowu's version of Spring: percussive patterns in primary colors and flamboyant, shoulder-caressing fabric collages. Born in Lagos to a

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-51367315511839222772010-11-24T20:10:00.000-05:002010-11-24T22:11:10.206-05:00

Serge Mouangue's Wafrica series serenades my nomadic, postmodern, culturally-hyphenated, black, Buddha-curious, print-loving, fashionista soul. Originally from Cameroon, the globe-hopping designer has lived, worked and explored in France, China and Australia. His journey to Japan inspired Wafrica, a collaboration with Tokyo-based retailer, Kururi Inc. Instead of using time-honored silk,

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-67406823504830117712010-11-20T10:51:00.000-05:002010-11-20T10:51:08.744-05:00

my heart is unfocused. a mix of gratitude & grief. maybe this is life. crumpled paper, wet with tears, to write on. my people on the news. my faucet running water. the pang of consciousness. the way the sun streams in. a tangerine glow on wooden floors. a healing tooth that aches. the music that held me in new orleans. the rejection letter i haven't yet burned. the check i didn't expect. the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-21047590267237623392010-11-06T15:42:00.006-04:002010-11-06T18:20:18.979-04:00

I like to think critically about art and about humor. When something tickles, I laugh, and then I ask myself, "Why is this funny?" Because satire isn't magical or mysterious. It's sort of scientific. It relies on precision, timing and discomfort. It incorporates cultural references and prejudice. It exposes our secrets and gives us the permission to face and mock our psycho-political fatigue and

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-28725291788136546732010-10-27T22:29:00.000-04:002010-10-27T22:29:24.344-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-38224698085811860302010-10-21T17:01:00.000-04:002010-10-21T17:01:03.818-04:00

Tears fall onto my keyboard as I read about Corey Jackson and Terrel Williams―two gay American teenagers who suffered bullies and hanged themselves this October. It seems that the out-of-focus "better future" so many of us work for is a time and place these boys could not quite imagine or dare to believe in. Faced with the casual, incessant, unchecked cruelty of their peers, both Jackson and

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-43658233105643810882010-10-20T12:34:00.001-04:002010-10-21T17:04:55.317-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-65716388417019376672010-10-13T22:07:00.003-04:002010-10-14T11:12:04.600-04:00

Swedish illustrator Stina Persson's watercolors thrill and mesmerize me. I cut her iconic images out of fashion magazines and paste them into my journals to punctuate written words. Her art accomplishes everything I love about fashion: it's eye-catching, elegant, playful and dramatic. There's an irresistible balance of whimsy and power, femininity and edginess, mystery and flamboyance. Last

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-26994788544270998352010-10-11T21:38:00.002-04:002010-10-11T21:44:49.313-04:00

I'm excited to tour this Fall. Fast trips to sweet, familiar locations: Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. I'll bring theatre, poems and songs. I'll meet microphones, lights, noisy palms, open ears, smile wrinkles, new eyes and deep-sixed fears. My adventures start again soon. For now, I'm in love with my own neighborhood, greeting Autumn with wet and eager eyes. In my heart and on this

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-79466972186379904452010-09-21T22:15:00.004-04:002010-10-11T21:41:01.824-04:00

Jean-Michel Basquiat on my mind and in my art...

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-20994200048904915832010-09-02T16:39:00.011-04:002010-10-11T21:41:37.604-04:00

run tell that  dear antoine dodson, our country is a place 
where misfortune makes 
you famous 
where the humor you summon up 
to fight back tears & rapist  
can become detached hot air staccato laughter  spittle hitting laptop screens & water coolers in this place your face jokes 
quicker than bullets 
before you can drop kick & stop him 
a slap of a gun tongue 
turned slapstick 


Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-33890151002403867182010-07-24T11:05:00.006-04:002010-10-11T21:43:11.570-04:00

OK so this is beautiful and productive and necessary and heart-warming: Haitian children who survived the January 12, 2010 earthquake have a video conference with their Katrina-surviving peers. The kids ask each other empathy-building questions and have a lively discussion about trauma and healing. No doubt, this is an unforgettable experience for both groups and a testament to the power of

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-91319134554110016092010-07-15T10:57:00.006-04:002010-10-11T21:43:28.541-04:00

At my desk this morning, I sip cold coffee and watch one of my favorite videos: Fiona Apple's cover of the Beatles song "Across the Universe." The arm hair-raising gray scale images of riot (see below) always tug and tear my heart. So many questions surface as I watch: Why are these men so suddenly invasive and angry? Why are they infesting and destroying a harmless

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-15936962899788899552010-07-03T09:10:00.005-04:002010-10-11T21:43:43.622-04:00

At the age of twelve, environmental activist Severn Cullis-Suzuki gave an urgent, wise and resonant speech at the UN Earth Summit. The year was 1992 and today, her words still stand beside my deepest wish for this planet, its varied life forms and its human children. The video below has been given the popular title, "The Girl Who Silenced the World..." but I think Severn did the exact

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-63517111975036919872010-06-25T12:03:00.013-04:002010-10-11T21:43:58.340-04:00

I first met multi-instrumentalists Leah and Chloe Smith at an after-party for V-Day's V to the 10th celebration in New Orleans. The real-life sisters are also known as the musical team Rising Appalachia (R.I.S.E.) and they had me at hello. Years later, they traveled up to Inspirit Common (a boutique of sacred objects in Western MA) to offer an intimate benefit concert for the emerging

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-62510399124090931722010-06-23T17:25:00.004-04:002010-10-11T21:45:45.171-04:00

Found this on a walk around Smith College today. It made me laugh. Loud.

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-76516456062517745202010-06-16T15:10:00.001-04:002010-10-11T21:46:00.851-04:00

This boisterous, blissed-out mural brightens what used to be a bummer alleyway in my current city. It's worth a live visit: http://kirklandave.blogspot.com/

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-74280386917075180322010-01-29T15:08:00.006-05:002010-10-11T21:47:05.909-04:00

Quaking Conversation I want to talk about Haiti. How the earth had to break the island's spine to wake the world up to her screaming. How this post-earthquake crisis is not natural or supernatural. I want to talk about disasters. How men make them with embargoes, exploitation, stigma, sabotage, scalding debt & cold shoulders. Talk centuries of political corruption so commonplace

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-59443593326260160562010-01-16T20:34:00.054-05:002010-01-16T22:16:53.844-05:00

Haiti, its recent unnatural disaster, its spirited inhabitants, and its brilliant diaspora are steady on my mind. Today, in addition to following the post-earthquake updates, I've been listening to roots music and scouring the internet for inspiration and light. I am trying to balance the images of the devastation of my birthplace (injured bodies aching in wait, starving orphaned children, mass

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-22677419731894027342010-01-11T14:36:00.007-05:002010-01-25T12:17:20.303-05:00

anahata aside from faith, as far as you know, you will never have another heart. better to grow the one you were born with. fill it with blood & love. risk. let the strange world sneak inside. accept all of life in your chest. death is the end of percussion. breathe deeply, the music will function. listen close. freedom thaws in your ribcage. dance with vehemence to feel its fast-pumping. tempt

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-54404356157560945132009-12-03T14:57:00.005-05:002010-01-13T16:35:14.892-05:00

When I get an invitation to a baby shower or a link to a wedding registry, I fall into a pile of awe, bewilderment, slight panic and insecurity. A while ago, a friend mailed me a card to announce that he had gotten married. I hadn’t seen him in years and had never met his new wife. In bold cursive font, their card urged, “Instead of giving us gifts to celebrate our new marriage, we ask that you

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-51319710434807266992009-11-08T12:31:00.001-05:002010-07-03T12:32:57.544-04:00

Over the years, I have received several emails from writers who want to become professional performance poets. I wrote a short list of guidelines. I hope all who are interested find this helpful!Dear Aspiring Performance Poet,Read everything. Read constantly. Underline the lines you wish you wrote. Find a circle of writers in your community that you admire and trust. Meet with them regularly

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-89015899244936256652009-11-05T11:45:00.004-05:002010-06-12T14:34:57.135-04:00

Yesterday, the rehearsal room was warm with music and anticipation. We laughed a lot. We sang even more. We thought of you. For more info, a sneak peek, project updates and potential gifts, check out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lenellemoise/the-expatriate-amplification-project

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-10639658789966796052009-08-15T22:09:00.005-04:002009-08-18T16:56:49.897-04:00

From age five to nine, I attend Saint Patrick’s School, an esteemed Roman Catholic institution on a grassless hill in Roxbury, Massachusetts. It is the eighties and Roxbury is a section of Boston that most middle-class people would call “the bad part.” Here, where there are gangs, graffiti, immigration and other colorful things, smily priests and stern nuns walk the streets with the detached but

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-23928659133936518912009-07-26T17:10:00.003-04:002009-07-26T17:14:51.217-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-75852374005794495552009-07-11T19:07:00.009-04:002010-07-15T11:31:56.234-04:00

cover your mirrors a phantom has passed in the end we will all look like michael jackson a hypnotist dandy sexy spirit of corpses vodou’s ghede in sunglasses a pump of bony pelvis he-he was as pale as a manga superhero as smooth as zorro a limber zombie singing thriller a minstrel in reverse a gloved black power fist curled tight around an aching crotch

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-26263357644151475122009-07-06T13:19:00.004-04:002009-08-18T11:54:32.266-04:00

the children of haitiare not mythologicalwe are starvingor eating salty cakesmade of claybecause in 1804 we felledour former slave captorsthe graceless losers sunkvindictive yellowteeth into our forestswhat was green is nowdust & everyone knowstrees unleash oxygen(another humble wordfor life)they took offwith our torn branchesbeheaded our futurestuck our breath up on pikesfor all the world to

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-31013703317167507572009-07-02T13:50:00.002-04:002009-07-26T17:14:17.970-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-21183684889259146032009-06-25T15:04:00.004-04:002009-06-25T15:15:02.130-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-66130583405407380082009-06-25T15:00:00.001-04:002009-06-25T15:02:40.017-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-55475118987034548522009-06-25T14:55:00.005-04:002009-06-25T15:00:19.907-04:00

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-64952341129266694192009-06-24T11:58:00.007-04:002009-06-24T12:23:05.292-04:00

I have started a new collage series: "The Queer(ed) Femininity Series." Fabric and ink on paper. A few words and lots of color. I am thinking about how we wear our identities like designer labels. I am thinking about my longtime resistance to uniforms. I am "feministing" femininity (again), calling for expansion and boldness.

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-6782627010662727752009-06-13T10:40:00.014-04:002009-08-18T16:57:31.668-04:00

From June 14-20, I am in residency at New WORLD Theater, working to develop a tourable production of my two-woman play EXPATRIATE. Among other things, the play is about music, friendship, sexual tension and race. To prepare, I've been watching a lot of footage of black women performers who were/are popular in France. Josephine Baker. Nina Simone. LaToya Jackson. Grace Jones. Of these, I find the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-60863211742258409752009-05-08T12:09:00.010-04:002009-05-18T09:40:53.455-04:00

Back in January of this year, FaceBook challenged its users to submit "25 Random Things" about ourselves to 25 of our friends. It was a wildly popular assignment; the sweetest chain letter there ever was. I had the best time reading these casual poems, peeking deeper into the minds and memories of all the admired writers, artists, acquaintances and past audience members in my network. Inspired

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-6254257548308280762009-05-01T16:42:00.007-04:002010-01-11T14:38:52.615-05:00

I just finished Ann Patchett's Truth & Beauty, a love letter of a memoir. It is the companion book to one of my favorite nonfiction reads: Autobiography of a Face by the late and brilliant Lucy Grealy. I had been meaning to read Patchett's account of her alternately loving and codependent friendship with Grealy for many years. Truth & Beauty confronts the same themes as my play EXPATRIATE:

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-19552865866049300542009-04-11T07:20:00.005-04:002009-04-13T15:18:09.641-04:00

& do you see how much i love youif the baby don't exist yetcome through me& i have not preparedhave not seen a physiciana nutritionistan overpriced therapist appliedfor medical insuranceapplied myself & earnedgood credita driver's licensea PhDbefore i'm thirtythirty-fiveforty-one or goodor readyif i have not paidthe back taxes paid backthose fucking student loansstopped cursingpurchased a

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-9607465641809389982009-02-27T16:42:00.007-05:002009-04-13T11:29:21.176-04:00

I am so honored to join the March 25th roster of performing artists for "Breaking the Silence, Beating the Drums," a concert to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. Other featured performers include Bill T. Jones, Stew, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Izaline Calister, Impact Theatre Group, Sarah Jones and many, many wonderful others. “Breaking the Silence

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-39646912475670487842009-02-11T20:46:00.009-05:002010-07-15T11:27:46.043-04:00

On February 5th, I joined Dorothy Allison, Tim Wise, Dr. Peggy McIntosh and other rockin' speakers and artists for Claiming Williams at Williams College in Western Massachusetts (see: http://claiming.williams.edu). Students, faculty and staff got an official day off to attend lectures, community forums and performances which collectively examined privilege. My one-woman show "Womb-Words,

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-85815781871157433452009-02-10T13:53:00.007-05:002009-02-10T15:30:05.422-05:00

My "sister-in-love" sent me a wonderful link to Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert's twenty-minute talk "A Different Way to Think About Creative Genius." Here, Gilbert is hilarious, graceful, down-to-earth and divine. And I absolutely agree with her. Two summers ago, I had a fun, empowering talk with my theatre buddy Teo Castellanos. We both expressed wanting to live long, playful,

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-13122159437032853002009-01-29T12:22:00.010-05:002009-02-26T14:23:20.136-05:00

Today, a filmmaker friend linked me to "Gay Education," a smirk-inducing, animated short (see below). The video's intentions are good but I'm a little worried about some of the scientific theories presented here: The youngest male child is more likely to be gay because his mother's body pumps him with femme-inducing antibodies? Does gay = effeminate? If so, what explains all those butch gay men?

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-63782364382309426982008-12-31T19:49:00.010-05:002009-01-02T13:49:14.513-05:00

I used to call my mother on my birthday, just to thank her for doing all the work of pushing me into this small wild world. The new short poem below travels along the same lines. It was conceived on Christmas. Please read it aloud:Ode to Our Lady of Guadalupenamasteyou namaskar me brownpalms touching to mimicdogged dutiful prayer ohyou sober sort of virginso stubbornly sereneemerging from god's

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-81750591668827705292008-12-10T18:58:00.003-05:002008-12-22T13:38:39.593-05:00

Please check out the Institute for the Future of the Book's Golden Notebook Project: http://www.thegoldennotebook.org

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-50926276106178170812008-12-01T22:15:00.016-05:002008-12-02T16:29:06.622-05:00

I have been building collages in my journal, snipping and pasting my own private church. Magazine cutouts. Watercolored paper. Sharpies. Colored pencils. Drafts of of old poems. Tape. Glue. Dreams. Prayers. Each page is my own quiet, colorful room. Sitting alone with the scissors and thoughts...I fly.This is how I meditate, Lenelle Moïse

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-22012344784429840342008-11-21T21:24:00.011-05:002009-05-27T11:51:57.144-04:00

Wait. Do you hear that? The blogosphere is cacophonous, buzzing about Michelle Obama. Article after expounding article analyzes her every outfit, her every offhand remark, her every moment of smiling stillness. My ears ring from the drone.Enquiring bloggers want to know: Did Michelle wear J. Crew on The Tonight Show to appease or appeal to white voters? Is her round booty a conspiratorially

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-75677452800466010172008-11-10T11:59:00.006-05:002008-12-02T15:56:13.636-05:00

This summer, I had an encounter with a skinhead on the 1 train in New York City.My partner and I were headed uptown ― back to the little, lightless, roach-infiltrated Upper West Side studio we creatively spun into a cozy, albeit temporary, home. I was in the middle of two demanding and exhilarating summer months making challenging off-Broadway theatre. I was having the worst period cycle of my

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-19216953870234436152008-11-02T07:40:00.001-05:002008-12-04T15:07:43.108-05:00

Have you heard about the Seventh-Day Adventists who support gay marriage in California? Honest to God. There's a Christian organization called "Adventists Against Proposition 8." They're hundreds strong and they’ve got a public service announcement (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ANZiOK0o0).I’m a Vodou-loving-Rumi-reading-aspiring-Neopagan-Buddhist these days but, believe it or not, I grew

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-12412216473112413232008-10-26T18:24:00.002-04:002010-01-07T14:17:36.854-05:00

This weekend I subjected myself to The Women, a remake of a 1930s film of the same title (which I am never ever going to see) about the trivial trials and tribulations of a bunch of girly friends. I was seduced by the current film’s star-studded, all-female cast: Meg Ryan (who I haven’t seen on a screen in, like, a kajillion years), Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Candice Bergen and Bette Midler.

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-70806783106173819412008-10-20T11:39:00.005-04:002008-12-04T14:59:33.183-05:00

I met some queer-seeming women the other day and, when I asked if they identified as queer, there was this awkwardness about it, like, "Well, I guess I sorta-kinda am." And I said, "It's funny because the word 'queer' was meant to represent and include all the Sorta-Kinda people." One woman demanded, "Are you asking me who I fuck?" And I assured her, "No. I don't care who you fuck. I want to know

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-78403830656341971792008-09-30T12:58:00.006-04:002008-12-08T22:39:22.631-05:00

Liv and I sat in Cafe Lalo talking wildly with our hands about the pre-election fog that hovers heavy over everything like a great depression. Elegantly hunched over her steaming cappuccino, she said, "I wake up, I feel like I'm in mourning." I nodded, picking at my gourmet brownie which I could barely taste for all the grief stuck to my teeth.I mean: Haiti underwater.Galveston wrecked.The Ninth

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-45663056808963581882008-09-13T18:07:00.001-04:002008-12-01T22:04:46.956-05:00

As some of you know, I have recently been exploring visual art as a form of storytelling. I make collages with various papers, watercolor, sharpies, colored pencils, ribbon and any colorful thing I can find. Here's a slide show of some of the works that were exhibited last year at the Hosmer Gallery, my first-ever of what I hope will be many visual art shows.Enjoy, Lenelle P.S. To purchase my

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-42361237103026373162008-07-27T14:37:00.006-04:002008-12-04T14:17:20.447-05:00

I am doing a little celebratory dance. Feeling grateful and, admittedly, relieved. The New York Times loves my new play(with music) EXPATRIATE. Read this article:http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/theater/reviews/25expa.html?ref=theaterWe're playing Off-Broadway until August 3rd.Buy your tickets today: http://www.cultureproject.org

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-82187071365726743322008-07-09T08:16:00.002-04:002008-12-02T14:34:37.452-05:00

When it is summer, when it is Sunday and you are five years old and your storybooks are too predictable and the TV is damaged/decorative and the radio only offers piercing chords of whistling cracks and your favorite colors in the crayon box (red, green, purple) are left at school or broken, sometimes you are quite bored with talking to yourself so you listen to your father's sweet phone voice

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-87416524456107166252008-06-18T07:21:00.002-04:002008-12-04T13:52:24.059-05:00

I have a confession to make: I am worried about Amy Winehouse. I really don't mean to be. It's not like we know each other personally. I haven't seen her live shows. I've never even listened to her album. But Yahoo! bombards me (almost daily) with the latest "news" about her young, damaged life, and what can I say? At my worst, I am a product of my culture. Our cultural obsession with the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-19111023150939291242008-06-11T07:53:00.001-04:002008-12-04T14:10:24.407-05:00

I believe in love.Moreover, I believe that if you are not for love, you are against love. So, whatever form love comes to you in, trust that I am your ally. Whether you are single or partnered, I hope that you thoroughly love yourself or that you are hard at work learning how to self-love. I hope that whoever you (eventually) choose is emotionally available enough to also (eventually) choose

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-12319472057312679682008-06-04T04:21:00.001-04:002008-12-04T14:16:39.706-05:00

I travel a lot, but (for now) I keep my old journals, family photos and ribbon collection in Northampton. It's a cute, western Massachusetts college town just two hours west of Boston. I've lived here for almost six years, and a part of me will always live here. The part of me that feels entitled to live safely as a woman who loves women will never forget the power and permission I found in

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-70014158665672587822008-05-28T05:24:00.003-04:002008-12-04T16:21:40.702-05:00

This morning I woke up next to my longtime lover and felt giddy and grateful. Grateful for the sun. How it gives color. How it sent shimmery golden rays across her soft, freckled face as she faced me with her eyes closed and whispered, “Good morning.” I felt grateful for the deep, smiling, salt-n-molasses kiss that followed her gentle greeting. For the fruitiness of her flesh. For her nose

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-73021066480896921772008-04-04T14:00:00.001-04:002008-12-02T12:43:45.085-05:00

I met the brilliant New Orleanian writer Lolis Eric Elie at the "It Ain't Over in the Big Easy: Race, Ruin & Revival" conference at Dickinson University in 2006 just months after Hurricane Katrina hit. Lolis has collaborated with filmmaker Dawn Logsdon to bring us the crucial documentary Faubourg Tremé: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans.ABOUT THE FILM: Long ago, Faubourg Tremé was home to the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-78619383443376672672008-01-17T12:26:00.003-05:002010-07-03T12:28:32.038-04:00

Le yo vle touye chien, yo dil fou.  When they want to kill a dog, they call it crazy.Se met ko ki veye ko.  It is she who owns her body who must look after her body.Deye mon, genye mon. Beyond the mountains, more mountains. Dearest _______,The decision to "come out" to my family (and to the world at large) was one of the toughest I've ever had to make

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-62016137160510234462007-08-29T15:42:00.001-04:002008-12-01T22:41:32.371-05:00

I found an old poem of mine today, scribbled in the red composition notebook I used for an undergraduate sociology course called Women's Lives:in my world:reality is plural.the answers dependon the questioned.all roads can be taken.time is an option.self, another wordfor universe & word is not bond. word isfree.Lenelle Moise

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-31336888507036900772007-08-22T12:41:00.001-04:002008-12-02T12:48:40.658-05:00

I am elated and honored to be one of the contributing writers of WORD WARRIORS: 35 Women Leaders of the Spoken Word Revolution, a new Seal Press anthology edited by Alix Olson. Alix has gathered some of my favorite poets EVER (including Suheir Hammad, Patricia Smith, Walidah Imarisha and Michelle Tea) for the literary open mic we've all been waiting for. "Vagina Warrior" Eve Ensler writes the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-79722434384852820572007-08-07T17:05:00.002-04:002008-12-02T13:21:50.426-05:00

This is my self-induced, self-produced, self-recorded music video for the song "PIED PIPER" featured on my debut CD Madivinez. The song is a "Dear John" letter to pop culture (and a couple of exes too). I'm so excited that my work is now out there in a re-playable form.Enjoy & Love, Lenelle.P.S. In June 2007, Beth Greenfield reviewed Madivinez for Time Out New York in June 2007. Check it out:

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-19896865513123008132006-12-18T00:13:00.002-05:002008-12-02T13:23:58.004-05:00

to undergrads and students of life to postmenopausal misfits to queer daughters and boy-lovers to the flexible and the questioning to people of color and their allies as kin to voice-of-the-earth mediums to movers who shake and screamers who sing to rebels and their coconspirators to meticulous writers and audacious improvisers to the playful people in between to spiritual beingswho are sexual

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1165365853640538212006-12-05T19:38:00.002-05:002008-12-02T13:39:44.791-05:00

The worst thing a performance artist can be is completely out of control & that’s what sucks about Michael Richards. His job as a comedian is to deliver his jokes with confidence & grace & to trust that his audiences will get him & laugh. Last month, more than anything, he proved that he is not a master of his craft. Racism has always been used to hide paranoia, insecurity & rage. My guess?

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1161824341548140172006-10-25T19:55:00.001-04:002008-12-02T13:32:27.481-05:00

After a performance at the Worcester Polytechnical Institute in 2004, a white male professor approached me. "I almost resented your performance," he said, in all earnest and without hostility--"because how dare you be so free?"I probably answered, "How dare I not be?" or something just as sleek and polished. But I know it's more complicated than dares. Given the current state of affairs--and

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1159128805607220972006-09-24T15:30:00.002-04:002008-12-02T13:41:27.741-05:00

Did you know I co-wrote a feature-length film when I was a junior in college? Click on the link below to see a 2-minute trailer of Sexual Dependency (2003), directed by Rodrigo Bellot. Keep in mind: if I could re-edit this trailer, I would take away words like "longing" and even "sex." For me--at its core--the film has always been about cross-cultural "machismo." It's also about consuming media

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-17150498459621227192006-08-04T12:31:00.001-04:002009-07-08T13:22:37.702-04:00

i heart kinnie starr's live art! she (like many of the homoagogo performers so far) facilitated something that felt like ritual last night. i love it when stages are transcended or spontaneously & supportively bum-rushed (think tender forever's "simon says" set a couple of nights ago). it is nothing short of magic when the audience's energy & focus pulls the performer downstage, out of the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1148258649727637682006-05-21T20:00:00.003-04:002008-12-02T14:55:04.198-05:00

there is a wolf in my bedbut i don't cry. the boy cried.they called him a sissy,ignored him.i learned from this.wolf be slobberall over me.canine teeth like needlespricking my pointerfinger. blood.there is so much blood.i don't point. i just stick itin my mouth and sucklike i'm told.wolf growl bitchdo what you're toldand don't tell. if i bark, he will murder my mama. she has been chased and

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1147739763126968702006-05-15T20:18:00.001-04:002008-12-02T13:44:42.532-05:00

Everywhere I go, I ask the folks who sign up for my e-list to tell me their favorite word. Words like beautiful, incite, love, pleasure, pheonix, serendipity, thanks, f*ck (and other f-words) keep coming up. I am often asked what kind of folks make up my audiences. Well, they're as diverse as these:bourik (means donkey in kreyol)

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1146693618519230502006-05-03T17:56:00.001-04:002008-12-02T13:47:37.351-05:00

A new friend posts a blog that asks us to re-think immigration as "global travel."I respond, "Claiming global citizenship might make one's head implode with the implied sociospiritual responsibility. What would it mean to view the war in Iraq, slavery in the Sudan, poverty in Haiti, and melting glaciers in Iceland as crises hitting home, as opposed to tsk-tsk-worthy one-time events happening

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1144449865403952232006-04-07T17:44:00.003-04:002008-12-07T17:16:00.811-05:00

you should see me sitting here: sipping a scorching decaf americano. fires inside, steaming from outside's april rain. and my brows are furrowed like a third eye fist. i feel tired, i feel restless, i remember the loneliness i felt on stage last night... my audience at the Augusta Savage Gallery was, for the most part, the quintessential Western challenge. there was beautiful art up on the walls

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1142904125741726622006-03-20T19:23:00.002-05:002009-01-04T22:53:45.109-05:00

I've been non-stop for the past couple of months, rehearsing and presenting WOMB-WORDS, THIRSTING at Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY) and Humbodlt State University (in beautiful (but troubled) Arcata, CA). Both shows were a good time (standing ovations! wahoo!) but I must admit, it was an exceptional thrill to perform at HSU's Van Duzer Theatre. The space has hosted the likes of Sweet

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1141138549342616402006-02-28T09:54:00.000-05:002006-02-28T09:55:49.353-05:00

Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006) Octavia Estelle Butler passed away at her Seattle, Washington home on Saturday February 25, 2006. An only child, she was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California. Her father died when she was very young. Octavia attended school at Pasadena City College, California State University, Los Angeles and UCLA. Following participation in the Clarion Science Fiction

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1140829959257254212006-02-24T18:11:00.001-05:002008-12-07T17:17:53.582-05:00

Next Tuesday, February 28, I'll be reading "Cuck(h)olding a Stranger" my story published in Homewrecker: An Adultery Reader at 7PM at Food for Thought Books. And I must say: being a contributing writer to an anthology with the word "adultery" in its title is, er, humbling.As someone who grew up believing in sin, I have the silly urge to offer all sorts of disclaimers/confessions/really no one's

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1138463677482299852006-01-28T10:12:00.001-05:002008-12-02T13:54:56.811-05:00

I am running on very little sleep these days, she says with a lion-like yawn.I've been using my Astraea Loving Lesbians Award for Poetry grant (!) to record my debut CD (lots of spoken word, some song). There have been long hours of work and countless post-production hours of restless wired excitement. This project is long overdue, but the timing feels perfect because June Millington, co-founder

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1137275155230775822006-01-14T16:24:00.000-05:002006-01-14T17:07:46.993-05:00

i went to see Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic last night and i must say, i didn't laugh once. the folks around me, seemed to be getting their giggle-groove on. i wonder how they react to racist jokes that aren't presented on a big screen.it's not what you think: i don't mind racial satire. when they aren't preventing us from getting a job or a cab or a date, stereotypes are, in deed, laughable (

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1135037605368073872005-12-19T17:57:00.000-05:002005-12-21T16:28:02.506-05:00

i met jordan ehrlich a number of years ago at a poetry open mic at the (now-gone) OAK CAFE. he was the host, he wore a ponytail, he was a film student; we became fast friends.jordan has always given me great gifts: ithaca winter car rides, sincere hugs, countless cups of freshly brewed chai. i can't keep up with his generosity: he recently contributed a sweet article about my work to

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1131749801773665772005-11-11T20:56:00.000-05:002005-12-21T19:18:59.536-05:00

imagination isthe bridge between the things we know for sure and the things we need to believe when our world becomes unbearable -staceyann chinjune jordan made griot eyes at me in a perfect recent dream; as i lectured to university students,her wink put this poem in my mouth:see, social changeand self-affirmation--these things go hand in hand.you cannot dare to takesteps forwardif you do not

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1130975393463645732005-11-03T01:37:00.000-05:002005-11-02T19:56:01.123-05:00

last week, i performed WOMB, WORDS, THIRSTING at hobart & williams smith colleges in geneva, ny. it was the kick-off event for their women's collective SEARCHING FOR THE SUNLIGHT conference. we packed into an intimate, dimly lit, basement pub and had a pretty fine time. the audience was attentive, open-minded and vocally responsive; all the things that make this work work.a man sitting in the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1130276878868608142005-10-26T01:33:00.003-04:002008-12-02T13:57:24.843-05:00

today i am missing a womani never held but loved likei love my skin. likei love my freedom.all poets prayfor profundityin the face of new loss, familiarlegacy.flyby words make my fingerprints itch. flashes of language ghost danceon my swollen soft palette.i want the words to stick hereand mean, to honor somehow; want poetry to matterlike her beautiful life.i manage this:WORD ALTAR FOR ROSA

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1127423232049291682005-09-23T00:00:00.000-04:002005-09-28T14:07:49.510-04:00

this fall--in addition to the 94 other things i'm up to--i'm playing cleopatra in deborah lubar's woman to woman on women in love: a shakespeare anthology (of passion). it's a cameo appearance of sorts, but a very juicy one! more than retraining my tongue to dance with shakespeare's playful language, my greatest challenge in the next couple of weeks is to tap into my inner pharoah, my ancient

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1126651483511175232005-09-22T01:51:00.001-04:002009-01-04T23:00:45.085-05:00

CHICKEN LITTLEfolks fall apartwhen moldly textbooks teach the distortionsof callous cowards, of cruelcrooks white-washedvictorious. folks fall apart when we consume their colorful ommissions. we chokeon this nation's frustrationas it is documented by the bored, unraisedwandering hands of our ignored, angrychildren. sitting in the backof buses and classrooms, wefail, we fall apart—we, prodigies

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1127342946909560342005-09-21T18:45:00.000-04:002005-11-02T15:26:32.736-05:00

I love teaching. Part 1 of I AM...Renaming the Sexual Revolution (a "slam poetry meets sex ed." workshop I'm facilitating this fall, sponsored by Planned Parenthood and the Ithaca College Office of Multicultural Affairs) went really, really well! Six hours is a long time to be immersed in the Spoken World (my jaw still aches from all the reading and discussing) but nobody complained when we went

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1125694349429891992005-09-02T16:01:00.000-04:002005-09-14T14:32:48.616-04:00

alixa & naima (of climbing poetree) and pamela means crafted superhero art last night. i was certainly in need of the saving...was storming out of body yesterday. felt gut-numb. felt tongue-dumb. needed to take a walk away from the chest-fisting hurricane news flooding our livingrooms. needed to get off on the sun and not the stress-induced argument i stupidly started with my lover. i went

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1124301212869694122005-08-17T21:00:00.000-04:002005-09-14T14:33:01.930-04:00

today the line waiting is the first life lesson resonateslike blows. i wrote it—quite prophetically—when i was seventeen and didn't have bills to pay.financial ignorance was blissful; i knew enoughnot to ask my mother for anything brand/new, but, moreoften than not, my basic needs were met. cool.today though—waiting for a check is instant humility.it reminds me of how interdependent we all are;

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1120685555045411182005-07-06T12:47:00.000-04:002005-08-12T14:52:21.670-04:00

i am all soaked skirti am sandals drowning in this stormi am tear-stained chest readingabout boston's foster-mothercharged with the murderof the 4-year old boythe city paid her to protect.the paper delivers the damage done:his forehead marked with forceful fingernailshis wrists dented--discolored as if tiedhis baby arms bruised, insides crushed by the weightand repetition of five days worth of

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1118170184235715982005-06-07T22:02:00.002-04:002009-02-21T20:51:50.497-05:00

Yeah um, can we talk about those new nasty little fruit salads that McDonald's is trying to shove down our diet-obsessed American throats? I mean, "candied walnuts" with low-fat yogurt, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Like apples and grapes ain't sweet enough? Plus, they're trying to appeal to our alcoholic impulses by suggesting we'll get some vague-ass "fruit buzz" if we try it.What's worse, this new ad

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1117054521331151112005-05-25T16:47:00.000-04:002005-05-31T15:18:15.470-04:00

i am creatively envisioning many many many full-scale productions of "the many faces of nia" in my lifetime.i see audiences standing in ovation, each individual feeling changed and ready to spread the love i created it with. look out!www.lenellemoise.comp.s. The F-Word, a new feminist magazine for teens (conceived and edited by the fabulous Melody Berger) is finally on-line! Check out all the

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1115412246310010822005-05-06T14:17:00.000-04:002005-05-06T17:15:35.286-04:00

will you love me/ when i'm sitting/ and no one's looking/ up at/ me? when i'm not/ moving like sex?/ when i move/ beyond sex? when / i'm not moving at all? when i'm waiting./ just waiting. wading so/ love me when i'm streaming in between/ gender extremes/ and behavior/roles.../ when i'm waking/ up in the mo(u)rning/ before associations/ to name, physique/ and voice.-from my poem "shades in

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8147308.post-1111098641222944352005-03-17T16:02:00.000-05:002005-06-22T18:36:44.540-04:00

"i'm not afraid of you/ i'm just a victim of your fear." -saul williams .i just admitted in an email that if i could find some pre-existing organized religion that fully embraced the (female) body, and openly celebrated whom/what/all the body can desire--as a natural--even holy, essential part of life, i would be a zealot, brother. i would even preach.in the meantime, i amcontent to design my own

Lenelle Moïse ♥http://www.blogger.com/profile/05394514301462039590noreply@blogger.com