If songs could have remixes why not poetry? I wrote this piece in 2002 and rewrote it last month. I decided to post it today in honor of Valentines Day. I performed this piece at the infamous "Underground Show" in Dallas, TX on January 31st. The original is posted on my blog as well but this one is more crisp. Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day (remember everyday should be Valentines...love each other always and not just once a year). Peace!
Sweet Love Jones…remix
I gotta a love jones
And it jumped into my soul
I don’t know how to explain it
Or how I’ve even obtained it
It’s a feeling only one would know
When they’re in love
This erotic feeling has made it’s way through my bones
I can only show to him
You begin to wonder and search for answers as to why you feel electric within
And when you are intertwining and unwinding with your man
Emotions jet out like a racing stream right before the waterfall
There’s no control over these emotions that flood your spirit
As my man whispers in my ear to give it to him all night
My body melts and my soul is awakened by the sound of his voice
His tender but hard strokes makes me know how much he loves me
When a man can stroke your intelligence
Feed your spirit and stroke ya right
What more could you want from this King
I watch him sleeping
Knowing that
I’m dancing through his dreams
As we lay underneath the sun rising
Listening to the sweet birds chirping
I thank God for yet another day
As the morning grows
I begin to moan as my baby wakes me up the right way
Nothing like a sweet love jones
Overtaking my soul
As I walk through this trip leading me to ecstasy
Revised: January 7th, 2009
Copyright Serena Wills 2009
All Rights Reserved
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Tia's Way by Guest Blogger Priscilla Wiggins
Hello everyone! This is my first guest blogger and it's heavy. I read this post on my friend Brooke's blog and damn near cried. Priscilla Wiggins lost her friend Tia at the age of 28 to cervical cancer. This cause is near and dear to me for a couple of reasons. I was spared. Yes that's right. I was a victim of HPV not once but twice! HPV is a leading cause of cervical cancer...an STD that can hide for a long time and then unmask itself. At 20 and 26 I was spared and it was caught and I had to go through two not so comfortable procedures. So people get tested, make your partner get tested for any and all STD's and if they don't want too then he/she can step. Please learn from this blog and get educated. Now introducing Priscilla Wiggins blog called Tia's Way....
So now she’s dead.
Yep dead.
All the drugs, all the surgeries – still dead.
All our tears, all our memories – still dead.
One of my dearest friends of 15 years died of cervical cancer on September 25, 2008 at 2:30am. It was senseless, it was stupid, it was hurtful - it is hope.
It is hope because I’m determined to make it that way. So like many others who’ve lost a loved one, I’ve worked with her mother to create a foundation, Tia’s Way (http://www.tiasway.com/).
Tia's Way is dedicated to promoting awareness and education about cervical cancer. Another important part of our efforts will be providing assistance for women who are uninsured and under-insured. One trip to CVS to fill prescriptions for Tia was $700 with insurance! For YEARS Tia was told she had fibroids, when all along cancer was raging inside her body. By the time the cancer was discovered, it had metastasized to her lungs and left hip.
So what now... Cancer doesn’t strike 28 year old's right? At least not Stage IV, inoperable, incurable, "you have 6 months to live" cancer. I mean we hear stories all the time about people passing from this horrible disease, but it’s always in Utah or Wisconsin - not in my inner circle. Except this time, it was in my circle and it came hard. Radiation, Chemo, CyberKnife Surgery, Hypercalcemia, Pleural Effusions, DNR. A whole new language we had to learn.
Some days she felt like fighting; some days she felt like enough was enough. For so long we just accepted, “she had fibroids” - all the "what if's." What if we’d pushed for more testing? What if we didn’t just blindly listen to the doctors? What if we’d gotten a second opinion? I can't tell you how many times they sent Tia home just thinking she wanted pain meds when all along she was dying of cancer! But thinking about the end makes me think about the beginning.
Tia was FIERCE! You hear me? Put a pair of heels on that girl and she could walk Naomi Campbell off the runway. She loved clothes and fashion. I could send her to the mall for me, and she would come back with the perfect outfit with matching "this and that" and a way to switch it up for next time! lol.
You know that person who is everyone’s best friend? That was Tia. You know that person who is everyone’s big sister? That was Tia. With all that being said, she was taken to soon. We wanted to be the old chicks at the club together! So the only way to get over the pain has been to pour ourselves into making her fight mean something.
I have my own marketing company and totally donated all the design, domain name and server space to make this project work. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what I would like to do.
Did you know that caught early, cervical cancer is completely curable?
This means not another friend, daughter, sister or mother has to die.
Did you know that African American women die of cervical cancer at double that of other races? These stats are the same for almost every other cancer, shame on us. We are uninsured, under-insured and uneducated on our rights. We have got to get it right and soon.
Did you know that 95% of all cervical cancers start with HPV/genital warts?
This means it’s preventable.
Did you know you can still get genital warts even if you use a condom?
HPV/genital warts is a skin disease, so to put it plainly: all the skin down under that isn't covered– could be a transmittal of HPV.
So check out the website, learn about cervical cancer, see if the HPV Vaccine is right for you and tell a friend! If any of you are so inclined to purchase something from the Cafepress store, 100% of every penny goes to helping the cause – things like flyers, permit costs for events, helping needy women pay medical bills, etc.
I hope you all learned something today! If any of you would like more information or are interested in helping, (something as small as putting a post on your blog about it helps us) please contact me at mailto:hpwiggins@whbconsultants.com-Priscilla
So now she’s dead.
Yep dead.
All the drugs, all the surgeries – still dead.
All our tears, all our memories – still dead.
One of my dearest friends of 15 years died of cervical cancer on September 25, 2008 at 2:30am. It was senseless, it was stupid, it was hurtful - it is hope.
It is hope because I’m determined to make it that way. So like many others who’ve lost a loved one, I’ve worked with her mother to create a foundation, Tia’s Way (http://www.tiasway.com/).
Tia's Way is dedicated to promoting awareness and education about cervical cancer. Another important part of our efforts will be providing assistance for women who are uninsured and under-insured. One trip to CVS to fill prescriptions for Tia was $700 with insurance! For YEARS Tia was told she had fibroids, when all along cancer was raging inside her body. By the time the cancer was discovered, it had metastasized to her lungs and left hip.
So what now... Cancer doesn’t strike 28 year old's right? At least not Stage IV, inoperable, incurable, "you have 6 months to live" cancer. I mean we hear stories all the time about people passing from this horrible disease, but it’s always in Utah or Wisconsin - not in my inner circle. Except this time, it was in my circle and it came hard. Radiation, Chemo, CyberKnife Surgery, Hypercalcemia, Pleural Effusions, DNR. A whole new language we had to learn.
Some days she felt like fighting; some days she felt like enough was enough. For so long we just accepted, “she had fibroids” - all the "what if's." What if we’d pushed for more testing? What if we didn’t just blindly listen to the doctors? What if we’d gotten a second opinion? I can't tell you how many times they sent Tia home just thinking she wanted pain meds when all along she was dying of cancer! But thinking about the end makes me think about the beginning.
Tia was FIERCE! You hear me? Put a pair of heels on that girl and she could walk Naomi Campbell off the runway. She loved clothes and fashion. I could send her to the mall for me, and she would come back with the perfect outfit with matching "this and that" and a way to switch it up for next time! lol.
You know that person who is everyone’s best friend? That was Tia. You know that person who is everyone’s big sister? That was Tia. With all that being said, she was taken to soon. We wanted to be the old chicks at the club together! So the only way to get over the pain has been to pour ourselves into making her fight mean something.
I have my own marketing company and totally donated all the design, domain name and server space to make this project work. It's a drop in the bucket compared to what I would like to do.
Did you know that caught early, cervical cancer is completely curable?
This means not another friend, daughter, sister or mother has to die.
Did you know that African American women die of cervical cancer at double that of other races? These stats are the same for almost every other cancer, shame on us. We are uninsured, under-insured and uneducated on our rights. We have got to get it right and soon.
Did you know that 95% of all cervical cancers start with HPV/genital warts?
This means it’s preventable.
Did you know you can still get genital warts even if you use a condom?
HPV/genital warts is a skin disease, so to put it plainly: all the skin down under that isn't covered– could be a transmittal of HPV.
So check out the website, learn about cervical cancer, see if the HPV Vaccine is right for you and tell a friend! If any of you are so inclined to purchase something from the Cafepress store, 100% of every penny goes to helping the cause – things like flyers, permit costs for events, helping needy women pay medical bills, etc.
I hope you all learned something today! If any of you would like more information or are interested in helping, (something as small as putting a post on your blog about it helps us) please contact me at mailto:hpwiggins@whbconsultants.com-Priscilla
Buy Framed Poetry on my Etsy Shop!!!!
Yes my shop is finally open for business! Check out my framed poems on http://www.divinewryte.etsy.com/
I uploaded a couple of my love poems titled Sweet Love Jones and Good Ole Lovin' and also one encouraging poem titled Divine Mold as well. Buy a frame or two for yourself or that special person in your life.
I went to a vendor fair on Saturday and so many people kept asking me if my frames were available online. So between last night and today I got a few uploaded. I already have some views on the page. I also have one order that came in at the fair for four frames which was great!!!! And one woman said, "Ooooh I wish you had 11x14 frames. So stay tuned for that size coming soon!
So in the meantime check it out and support my dreams of getting my writing into the hands of people that need it.
Peace!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Rejuvenated!
The end of January was absolutely incredible! On January 29th I went to the Janette Kennedy Gallery in Dallas, TX to the Underground preview show. I was nervous at the fact that in two short days the gallery and outside hallway would be filled with people all over the place, artists making their art come to life and I being one of the featured poets that night.But on the 29th I saw something that I never dreamed of. As I walked into the gallery there was art hanging from the ceiling, ceramics held their place on tall pillars, abstract photographs accented the walls and there towards the front of the room stood a wall. My eyes welled up with tears when I turned the corner and saw the wall that held my framed poetry. I never thought in a 1,000 years that my writing would be displayed in a gallery!
The ArtLoveMagic crew has broken barriers in Dallas that no other arts collective has done in a long time. (Except for Art Conspiracy...they are awesome) and together these groups make it known that artists don't have to "starve." We deserve to be respected just like anyone else. The term "starving artists" is obsolete between the two groups.
ArtLoveMagic put the Underground show together on January 31st and it was something that I didn't imagine. All three of those words came true that night. The "Art" came to life as 30 artists came together that were composed of painters, photographers, sculptors, illustrators, singers, musicians, writers, poets and more in one night to wake Dallas up and leave our imprint!
The "Love" was in the air on Saturday night as a crowd descended on the Janette Kennedy Gallery. There had to be at least 300 people that graced the gallery with their presence to check out the show. Love happened when I witnessed two artists Connor and Sherri get engaged as he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. In the same breath watching two of my friends that are so amazing also let the world know that they are together. Mike and Deb I think y'all are great together! They proved to me that the love of your life could be standing right in front of you and when the time is right God will make it known. So much talent and love all at the same time was almost overwhelming; but in a good way.
"Magic" took place as I got on the mic on the main stage and did a sensuous love poem titled Sweet Love Jones...the Remix and then ran out to the second stage and did Nubian Woman. My friend Deb whose voice would put Beyonce's to shame (I love Beyonce but Deb is the truth) with her soulful and sultry voice asked me to go on after another poet that was spitting on the mic at that time.
I fed off my boy Demetrius' energy as his cool and calm voice wooed the crowd. She whispered in my ear, "Please rock Nubian Woman." As I got up on the mic and did my piece I felt a rejuvenating sensation go though my blood. I hadn't felt like this in a long time. I knew at that moment I was stronger than ever and it's time to take my talent, poetry/writing to another level!
I ended my piece on such a high and I was so happy as I heard people whistling, folks clapping and my friend Nikki tell me I was so incredible...my first real show amongst other slamming artists! I looked up into the sky and knew that amongst everyone that took in my poem God was clapping and that feeling is one that you would know when He is saying job well done.
When Deb went to hug me I felt emotional because I knew that my dreams were coming true and all the right people were in my life whether they are on the east/west coast or here in Dallas. What more could a woman ask for in one night?
As the night went on I took in all of the art work and felt exhausted at 12am. Being tired after a night like that was satisfying. No bad vibes that evening...nothing but live energy surrounded the gallery.
Something else also was awakened. As I did Sweet Love Jones my heart let me know that it's okay to let down my guards and get ready for God to bless me. For the first time in a long time I totally felt healed and was ready to move on. A lot of us get caught up in the madness of hurt feelings and carry baggage on dates, new relationships, whatever.
I don't have neither as I walk the streets light. Nothing holding me down allowing God to work His magic and letting Him choose he. So I'll leave it at that but just know that I'm taking in new breath, a feeling that is refreshing...like a cool breeze on a hot summer day.
What a magical way to end January...one love.
Copyright 2009 Serena Wills
Letting Go of Yesterday
I noticed it's been a while since I posted anything on my blog. Today I was in church and was blown away by the sermon that my pastor delivered titled, "The Spirit of Excellence." The title alone had me going but what he said about letting go of our yesterdays was something that hit home for me.
He said that a lot of us live in yesterday. Whether it's good or bad. But we stay stuck on what happened and lose focus if we even have any on today and the future. A lot of us can't seem to move on from the bad things that once happened. He said that living in yesterday will ruin today and destroy your tomorrow! Wow!
As I vigorously took notes I thought of all the hurt feelings I had about my yesterdays. Whether it was a relationship gone bad, losing someone close, a friend tripping on me, etc thinking to myself...my God I could be ruining today and destroying my tomorrow.
In that one sermon I made a vow to myself to let go! It's so hard and the process isn't easy, but I have a bright and colorful future ahead of me and the last thing I want to do is destroy what God has in store for me by staying stuck in the past.
I prayed for a friend of mine (well once friend) that recently stopped talking to me. Not only was I cut off but so were other friends and even some family. Apparently she goes through spells of disconnecting herself with loved ones when she is either dating or in love. Returning when something goes wrong.
Yes I was initially mad that we are in our 30's and people still act like this but after today I had to tell her through my spirit good bye. I can't be upset that you got caught up and stopped talking to a bunch of us. I have so many things to do and if I stay stuck on being mad then weeks can go by and nothing will be resolved, work won't be done and I'm not about to hinder my gift of writing and my dreams for anyone.
I also thought about old loves...one in particular. I breathed with ease during the sermon that the ill feelings I once had towards him are really gone. Is that a good thing...no...it's great! Who wants to remain in limbo wondering about the would've, could've, should've. I had to let go of the fact that not only our relationship ended but that an 11 year friendship ended and may never be again which is fine. All of the words that stung in our final blows, insults, etc have fallen to the waist side. I truly believe that God put him in my life for a reason and a season and I thank him for that. No one wants to see a friend go and it end ugly, but learn from it, see what their purpose was and keep moving forward.
So I say all of this because someone out there will read my blog and be stuck. They wonder why their life isn't transforming after prayers and talks with God. Life is going by without them. It's because you need to get up, dust yourselves off and move on. Life has so much to offer and I don't want to ever be in a position again where I'm living in yesterday. So let's reminisce, learn, laugh about the past when there were good moments and even bad but look forward to bright futures, more funny times, accomplishing our dreams and being supportive of each other.
I hope today someone will read this and say...I'm letting go of yesterday. Peace.
He said that a lot of us live in yesterday. Whether it's good or bad. But we stay stuck on what happened and lose focus if we even have any on today and the future. A lot of us can't seem to move on from the bad things that once happened. He said that living in yesterday will ruin today and destroy your tomorrow! Wow!
As I vigorously took notes I thought of all the hurt feelings I had about my yesterdays. Whether it was a relationship gone bad, losing someone close, a friend tripping on me, etc thinking to myself...my God I could be ruining today and destroying my tomorrow.
In that one sermon I made a vow to myself to let go! It's so hard and the process isn't easy, but I have a bright and colorful future ahead of me and the last thing I want to do is destroy what God has in store for me by staying stuck in the past.
I prayed for a friend of mine (well once friend) that recently stopped talking to me. Not only was I cut off but so were other friends and even some family. Apparently she goes through spells of disconnecting herself with loved ones when she is either dating or in love. Returning when something goes wrong.
Yes I was initially mad that we are in our 30's and people still act like this but after today I had to tell her through my spirit good bye. I can't be upset that you got caught up and stopped talking to a bunch of us. I have so many things to do and if I stay stuck on being mad then weeks can go by and nothing will be resolved, work won't be done and I'm not about to hinder my gift of writing and my dreams for anyone.
I also thought about old loves...one in particular. I breathed with ease during the sermon that the ill feelings I once had towards him are really gone. Is that a good thing...no...it's great! Who wants to remain in limbo wondering about the would've, could've, should've. I had to let go of the fact that not only our relationship ended but that an 11 year friendship ended and may never be again which is fine. All of the words that stung in our final blows, insults, etc have fallen to the waist side. I truly believe that God put him in my life for a reason and a season and I thank him for that. No one wants to see a friend go and it end ugly, but learn from it, see what their purpose was and keep moving forward.
So I say all of this because someone out there will read my blog and be stuck. They wonder why their life isn't transforming after prayers and talks with God. Life is going by without them. It's because you need to get up, dust yourselves off and move on. Life has so much to offer and I don't want to ever be in a position again where I'm living in yesterday. So let's reminisce, learn, laugh about the past when there were good moments and even bad but look forward to bright futures, more funny times, accomplishing our dreams and being supportive of each other.
I hope today someone will read this and say...I'm letting go of yesterday. Peace.
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