Wolf Woman & Other Poems

Jo-Ann Vega

Description

The author of the stunning memoir, Moments in Flight [2021], returns with Wolf Woman & Other Poems, a curated collection of 50 poems written over 50 years that span the seasons of a woman’s life. Jo-Ann Vega’s perspective is fresh, provocative, inspirational, and captivating. Each word portrait draws readers into a powerful connection between the author’s thoughts, feelings, and words.

The collection’s distinctive organization groups poems by life stage and includes a brief preview of each section. Influenced by Sylvia Plath and the confessional prose-style of expression, Vega writes about the light and the dark sides of life, of being a woman of substance in a world still largely hostile to women’s talents and ambitions.

“What was I to do? I wasn’t like the women I knew or worked with, nor was I like my female family members… caregiving was not a natural strength or primary source of identity…No matter which way I turned, if I was to be true to my core being, I had to venture beyond traditional boundaries of gender and culture. It is always going to be a challenging journey for an independent woman with perspective who happens to be gay…I hope my musings provide some nourishment to you on your continuing journey toward wholeness and integrity... Awake to the life-affirming possibilities within waiting to be discovered.”

Savor the musings of a long time explorer of the depths in search of meaning, identity, understanding and connection.

Special features: Wolf Woman & Other Poems is a companion book to Moments in Flight, A Memoir*. Wolf Woman presents fifty poems, none repeated from Moments in Flight. They were written over a half century, from 1970-2020, and are divided into three sections. The three sections represent the stages of a woman’s life, from young maiden to crone, and illustrate Vega’s awareness of self and movement through issues, challenges, and phases of the life cycle.
Part 1: becoming/discovery - 1970-1980 - rites of passage;
Part 2: unfurling my wings - 1980-2000 - taking risks
Part 3: awakenings - 2000-2020 - cronehood.

Sujets

• LGBTQ+
• Poetry

Informations

• Publié par: Outskirts Press
• Date de parution: 31 mars 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781977254092
• Langue: English

Extrait

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Wolf Woman and Other Poems All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2022 Jo-Ann Vega v3.0
This is a work of poeticized fiction. The opinions expressed in this manuscript are solely the opinions of the author and do not represent the opinions or thoughts of the publisher. The author has represented and warranted full ownership and/or legal right to publish all the materials in this book.
This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Outskirts Press, Inc. http://www.outskirtspress.com
ISBN: 978-1-9772-5409-2
Cover Photo © 2022 www.gettyimages.com . All rights reserved - used with permission.
Outskirts Press and the "OP" logo are trademarks belonging to Outskirts Press, Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Contents
Part 1: becoming/discovery 1970-1980 rites of passage
I feel as though
The Gap
After several hours of falling snow
This past weekend
Once again
Do you possibly know?
When I left you last night
I wanted you last night
I heard a song
Woman child
You have read more into me
The words flow faster
In complete innocence
It’s Saturday afternoon
The sun is setting
Judas
My pulse quickens
Revenge
You confront me
We grew up together
I sat and watched
Many came to watch the performance
Part 2: unfurling my wings 1980-2000 taking risks
Premature death
For almost half a century
It’s hard to imagine
I figured out the source of my tension headaches
It seemed as though the weather was conspiring
You were a private man
You’ve been gone a year
Knowing you’ll look for hidden meanings
Grandfather
The Christmas Angel
Golden anniversary
A gift from my heart
Part 3: awakenings 2000-2020 cronehood
I finally understand
How do I hold onto the intensity of the learnings?
I don’t hate you
Wolf Woman
I want to break out
I’m not going to take the bait
It’s all starting to sink in
Let me offer a few words
Sitting at the bar
Waiting for the call
Damn you
Full Circle
Musings
Then & Now
Twenty years ago
Coping
Wolf Woman & Other Poems
Writing breaks open the vaults of the dead and the skies behind which the prophesying angels hide.
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Dear Reader:
When I first took pen to paper in high school in an attempt to understand the despair I felt over the loss of my future, I had no idea of the crucial contribution writing would make to my life, or that I would stick with it. I can still hear one of my mother’s favorite descriptions of me: "You start out like a house on fire and then fizzle out!" Going to work, writing for a living, and the demands of relationship and family in my working years shifted my writing from confessional prose poetry to journaling a natural transition. Four-plus decades later, I’m still writing. I have a record. A past; my personal history in which to seek refuge and to nurture, to corroborate, and sometimes to challenge my interpretations of me, others, and events.
I love language its many manifestations and power. I consider myself an artist with words. Interesting, since I didn’t come to language easily. One of my mother’s sisters was so concerned that I was grunting at age three, she pressed my mom to get me tested to learn what was wrong. Curiously, not long after, I started to speak. I’ve been reminded and not always with love that I talked in paragraphs and too often. I was never as decorous as my mother would have preferred, but she loved me and would tell me to be quiet when she thought I had gone too far.
What was too far? I came to learn, sometimes painfully, too far occurred when my intuitive insights tumbled from my mouth before I could process and filter them. My mouth would echo my brain. I vividly recall the moment I reached a realization at age five. As I watched my father work, a flash of unconscious understanding: Girls don’t get to do much! My insight was not followed by obedience toward diminished expectations, but by the internal sense I would not be bound by the limitations of my gender and culture. I could break out and beyond. I was capable, sturdy, and I held my own competing in games played with the boys.
In her book, The Artemis Effect , Dr. Bolen identifies four aspects of the Artemis personality, evident from toddlerhood. [Artemis is the Greek goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, the Moon, and chastity.] I can do it myself. This postpones vulnerability until you have to own up to needing it. Don’t feel sorry for me . This leads to a warrior mentality which helps during the first phase of life. You aren’t the boss of me . Fierce independence leads to empowerment. It’s not fair that boys have more freedom and opportunities . Anger over the injustice creates a woman who is competitive, capable, and vulnerable not needy.
Dr. Bolen could have been describing me. My favorite expression as a toddler was "I do." From an early age I was aware my path through life would be independent. I do not have a tepid personality. I knew intuitively I had to be resilient and courageous to become me.
I came to trust my flashes of understanding and worked to harness them into word portraits that help me understand myself and the world I occupy. I composed my first poem during my senior year of high school. Deeply personal, my word paintings are always written to express or understand emotions, or to reach another person. Wolf Woman & Other Poems 1 , is a companion book to Moments in Flight: A Memoir 2 , both of which were crafted with excerpts from forty years of writing. Wolf Woman presents fifty poems, none repeated from Moments in Flight . They were written over a half century, from 1970-2020, and are divided into three sections.
Part 1: becoming/discovery 1970-1980 rites of passage 1. I feel as though 2. The gap 3. After several hours of falling snow 4. This past weekend 5. Once again 6. Do you possibly know 7. When I left you last night 8. I wanted you last night 9. I heard a song 10. Woman child 11. You have read more into me The words flow faster 12. In complete innocence 13. It’s Saturday afternoon 14. The sun is setting 15. Judas 16. My pulse quickens 17. Revenge 18. You confront me 19. We grew up together 20. I sat and watched 21. Many came to watch the performance
I am the ninth grandchild of immigrants from southern Italy who escaped from their impoverished homeland to their adopted country, A-MER-I-CA , during the Ellis Island years, 1903-1920, thereby creating possibilities for me unimaginable in their homeland. I enjoyed an active childhood, playing on the streets of the south Bronx, NYC, without constant adult supervision. Uprooted at almost twelve from all that had been familiar on my journey toward adulthood and self, my parents relocated our famiglia to the suburbs. Two additional siblings, in rapid succession, were added to my famiglia. This removed me from my familiar role and status as the baby.
Accompanied by the normal teenage angst that comes with finding and expressing my voice, I was in-step with my contemporaries in my desire to move beyond the narrow strictures of my immigrant kin, gender, and culture. Until I reached my senior year of high school, my independence and warrior mentality served me well. My parents unequivocally told me they would not send their daughter away to college and would only pay for the first two years at the local community college. My family’s lack of knowledge and resources to nurture my academic potential reinforced by cultural and ethnic beliefs was a potent brew and limited my life prospects. I internalized this and slid into a depression. That’s when I, like many others, turned inward to tap into that inner knowing before conscious awareness to find my way out of the abyss.
What was I to do? I wasn’t like the women I knew or worked with, nor was I like my female family members. They were eager to be with a man, to define themselves through their man; get married, have children, and always put themselves last, creating and exposing themselves to the risk of feeling bereft and like an outcast without a man. For me, caregiving was not a natural strength or primary source of identity. I liked guys even as I resented their advantages. I was not marriage material unless I wanted to deny my essential nature. I saw further than most, could see through the BS. I sometimes wished I was stupid or blind so I could fit in. And even though I was scared and could scarcely express myself verbally, as if propelled by an inner knowing and force, I invariably took steps forward.
We are affected by the times in which we come of age and, in turn, we affect them. I was conceived in the aftermath of WWII as US standards of living increased; suburbia was built, and the GI Bill made college and upward mobility possible for millions of Americans previously excluded or subjected to nearly insurmountable obstacles to increased life satisfaction. I came of age during a time of disruptive cultural change and the push for equality. A kaleidoscope of events runs through my mind: Cuban Missle Crisis, Civil Rights Act, Vietnam War, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy, Kent State, Woodstock, Watergate, NASA and the moon landing, Ted Bundy, and gas rationing. The country was in turmoil. Anti-war and civil rights demonstrations filled the streets and airways before computers, smart phones, or social media.
Five people and events helped shape my generation and foreshadowed today. Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. JFK, inaugural speech Hell no I won’t go! Protesters of Vietnam … judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin . Martin Luther King, Jr. That’s one smal