art & poetry
BY: JUDY BATTAGLIA | SHE/HER
A choir,
Much preferring
A chorus
Dyads
Parts of a whole
Or the cacophonous cloak
A dancer, a stripper, must first be a listener
Of a group
Not trained in the art of seduction but instead
Cymbals
Of the mother wound
A clash.
The sister wound too tight
Does any misrepresented
The teacher who couldn’t be reached
and marginalized group
I do not recall
prefer a quiet or its opposite, a
Going out for solos
spotlight?
Very often
Always uneasy under microscopes Our blood cells multiply Much like the cancer
Artist Statement: explanatory phenomena: this poem is intended to take the reader on a psychological journey spanning the depths of mostly western approaches to jewish women, jews and women, jewish women who love women. The images take flight from microbiology, cosmology, botany, theology, psychology, and calls into account our cleavage to false idols: thinkers, lovers, and celebrated heroes throughout the ages philosophically inquiring whom or what is this all for and how/should/ought we allow this to continue and in what form? The flooding, oversaturation, achievement...the gaps. Poet: Judy Battaglia teaches students solutions-based practices as well. During the pandemic, she was able to get back to what made her heart beat when she entered this LMU arena as a student: poetry and dance. She was able to choreograph for local schools, so she got to speak to them about Ja’Quel Knight, a 32-year-old Black man, who is the first commercial choreographer to copyright his consecutive steps. Therefore, changing the landscape of our culture, particularly when we discuss ownership of creative property. He has worked with Beyoncé and Tinashe, and now has a grant for young POC artists.
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