Swarna, I am absolutely in chills and speechless after listening to you read your poem. I don't even have enough words to express how much I love all of this essay(s) and poem, but the way you brought the spirit of it -- dark spirit and light -- to life with your reading is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing it with us, in the midst of all you're going through.
"We can only grasp the depth of another's anguish if we ourselves are fated to undergo similar trials in the same manner. In this realization lies the elusive essence of the divine, the quest we so fervently pursue in scriptures and holy sites." Can we not gather for tea together with no deadlines and no other obligations, sit somewhere warm and timeless, and talk about this until the world is repaired?
This was so cathartic to read. Thank you for expressing what so many of us long to express. Your description of masculine energy out of balance was particularly meaningful to me. And hearing the poem in your own voice was beautiful - thank you!!
This was pure fire, pouring from your soul. MY GOODNESS. I can't stop listening to your voice over. I am truly at a lose for words. The power. The fire. The feminine rage. This was everything. 👏👏🔥🔥❤️ I am so glad I waited to listen and sit with your words when I had space to myself.
I am so excited for the works to come. Thank you for sharing your words and voice with us. I am so inspired.
Swarna, I LOVE hearing your voice--it's resonant and strong and just fantastic to hear with your writing! And I am so excited to learn of the work you have not yet published which you are publishing yourself here, that we get to witness and share in it. There is so much in this I love, but especially the strength of your words and voice, of lines that emphatically say "you pronounce it wrong." So grateful to stand alongside you in not suppressing rage, of care as an act of strength and fierce rebellion. I see your firefly light. 💜🕯🧚🏼
Swarnali, I wanted to let you know that the sound of your voice reading your poem has accompanied me through my week. The anger you poetically dance into flame is an anger I’ve learned not to feel. It’s not the anger that wants to control my 4-year-old or that bristles at the driving patterns of strangers—that anger will flash through my body in an instant. But this is an anger that wants to unmake the world—that demands we unmake the world—and I will feel anything—anxiety, shame, depression—to avoid the tremors of this rage. Because it’s easier to unmake myself than to unmake the world.
So this piece has stayed with me in my time offline. I can’t imagine the depths of self-accompaniment required to give such a full-throated expression to feminine rage, but I am blessed to be in the company of your words. Thank you.
Swarna, I am absolutely in chills and speechless after listening to you read your poem. I don't even have enough words to express how much I love all of this essay(s) and poem, but the way you brought the spirit of it -- dark spirit and light -- to life with your reading is phenomenal. Thank you for sharing it with us, in the midst of all you're going through.
"We can only grasp the depth of another's anguish if we ourselves are fated to undergo similar trials in the same manner. In this realization lies the elusive essence of the divine, the quest we so fervently pursue in scriptures and holy sites." Can we not gather for tea together with no deadlines and no other obligations, sit somewhere warm and timeless, and talk about this until the world is repaired?
This was so cathartic to read. Thank you for expressing what so many of us long to express. Your description of masculine energy out of balance was particularly meaningful to me. And hearing the poem in your own voice was beautiful - thank you!!
This was pure fire, pouring from your soul. MY GOODNESS. I can't stop listening to your voice over. I am truly at a lose for words. The power. The fire. The feminine rage. This was everything. 👏👏🔥🔥❤️ I am so glad I waited to listen and sit with your words when I had space to myself.
I am so excited for the works to come. Thank you for sharing your words and voice with us. I am so inspired.
I am glad to be raising girls in a world in which your words exist. 🙏
This was so powerful, Swarna. Thank you for sharing your voice. That was a lovely surprise. Best wishes with all the heavy weights you are carrying.❤️
Swarna, I LOVE hearing your voice--it's resonant and strong and just fantastic to hear with your writing! And I am so excited to learn of the work you have not yet published which you are publishing yourself here, that we get to witness and share in it. There is so much in this I love, but especially the strength of your words and voice, of lines that emphatically say "you pronounce it wrong." So grateful to stand alongside you in not suppressing rage, of care as an act of strength and fierce rebellion. I see your firefly light. 💜🕯🧚🏼
Swarnali, I wanted to let you know that the sound of your voice reading your poem has accompanied me through my week. The anger you poetically dance into flame is an anger I’ve learned not to feel. It’s not the anger that wants to control my 4-year-old or that bristles at the driving patterns of strangers—that anger will flash through my body in an instant. But this is an anger that wants to unmake the world—that demands we unmake the world—and I will feel anything—anxiety, shame, depression—to avoid the tremors of this rage. Because it’s easier to unmake myself than to unmake the world.
So this piece has stayed with me in my time offline. I can’t imagine the depths of self-accompaniment required to give such a full-throated expression to feminine rage, but I am blessed to be in the company of your words. Thank you.
I am Not an Island
I'm not an island
I'm a woman
I'm a lover, I am a giver
I have sisters
I'm a woman
I'm not an island
I am not a piece of property
That you can or can't afford
I am not your trader's favorite stock
But I'm not to be ignored
I am strong within my boundaries
I am not your fair absurd
I'm the fount of our salvation
And I will have the final word.
I'm not an island
I'm a woman
I'm a lover, I am a giver
I have sisters
I'm a woman
I'm not an island.
I am the mighty hurricane
That will beat upon your shores
I am a resurrection
I am knocking on your doors
Do you think that I am kidding
Do even think at all
While you play your favorite pastimes
And throw your favorite balls
I'm not an island
I'm a woman
I'm a lover, I am a giver
I have sisters
I'm a woman
I'm not an island.
I am thriving in the sunlight
I am living my ballet
I will harken to that music
As I hear my sisters play
With one step for the future
And one for all mankind
We shall weave this dance together
And advance in pace and kind.
I'm not an island
I'm a woman
I'm a lover, I am a giver
I have sisters
I'm a woman
I'm not an island.
Malcolm J McKinney 2023
Brilliant. Relatable. Important.