All of Our Voices by: Judy Battaglia

BY: JUDY BATTAGLIA | SHE/HER

A choir, A chorus Parts of a whole A dancer, a stripper, must first be a listener Not trained in the art of seduction but instead Of the mother wound The sister wound too tight The teacher who couldn ’t be reached I do not recall Going out for solos Very often

Much preferring Dyads Or the cacophonous cloak Of a group Cymbals A clash. Does any misrepresented and marginalized group prefer a quiet or its opposite, a spotlight? 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.