Monique

Mona de Femme

This moon pains me,

Swoons; Restrains me.

Clawing the shore

Drawing forth

Hot blood at high tide.

Exposing ugly features

Those carniverous

Creatures

That I'd buried deep

In thick blankets of darkness.

They harken

To the starkness.

It bathes them in light.

It begs their expression.

They burn their plight

Like scars on my flesh, and

Have I, after all this time,

Left the wrong imp...

In Observation of Women

If you have been following me on my other social media, you probably saw my series of posts in observation of 'International Women's Day.' I did a similar thing last year, and if you are interested in doing some scrolling, I would invite you to take a look. 

On my personal Facebook account, I also shared this image. This is one of my favorite images of my mother. She was 21 years old and holding her first daughter, me. She is now almost 47, and has four daughters. She is a beacon of stren...

A Eulogy

I am a child of thine dawn

Torn by your loom

borne by the moon

Unto it's women, it waxes

I am smiled upon

Storm and monsoon

Warm is thine womb 

For, the rain be thine practice

And the tide be mine axis

And we ride, wildly into the blackness.

Oh, wretched, hard, stinging flower

Stretched, scarred and singing in to your final hour

How deep were your dancing roots 

How proud and plenty were you in your fruits

...

Elizabeth.

After a two month long, 9,000 mile tour, I finally made it to this ever fleeting, vague and distant shadow of home, entering my room at 11:11PM. 

This was my first bedroom. It was my grandmother's last bedroom before she passed away in October. I cleaned it up and made the bed before leaving in January. My grandfather, expecting a late arrival, kept the light on for me. 

While there is an unshakable hollow feeling, there is also a sense of welcome here. Seeing my few cherished ...

A Desert Reflection

I am cryptic

Stung with pride

I have drifted

Along the tide

I am lifted 

Song and stride

Like a triptych

I have shifted

Thronged in light

The unbridled bride 

Unwedded 

Belonging to the night

Beyond wrong and right

Unsettled 

The pattern has been impeded

I feel my faithful seas receded

Here is the eternal autumn of Demeter

I smell the sweet scent of dead desert cedar

Embedd...

Sunset at Snowy Redrock

The sun tucked this snowy canyon in for the evening. I watched this during a hike on Lost Creek Trail. Out in Calico Basin, still being caressed in the sunlight, I could hear climbers communicating with each other. I have hiked and climbed here many times before. It was a new experience to see the valley highlighted in white snow. The shadows were stark. The earth was firm beneath my feet. The air was brisk, and felt new in my chest. My thoughts echoed loudly, but were quieted by reminders of my...

With Love, From Vegas.

Even if you are not a patron, know that I deeply appreciate you for taking the time to have a look at my page. Truly.

Here is a little peek inside of a box set that I assembled for a patron who increased his pledge, generously, while I was in the thick of my last tour. I was on tour for a total of two months, and drove about 10,000 miles.

This pledge came in while I was traveling from Sacramento to Phoenix. I made a stop in Vegas to visit a good friend of mine, and I took a few hours to ...

No, I'm not this hip.

Finally finished up my winter tour and am enjoying some much needed time off, in Virginia, with my younger sisters. Today is a coffee shop day, where I catch up on emails, tour planning, and work on any of the multiple projects I've got stewing. My 17 year old sister is a fine visual artist. So I created a little still life out of my objects for her to draw while I work. She ended up drawing something much more interesting. She has always been cooler than me. :-)

I'd like to give my patrons a ...

Crisis of Woman

You were a ballast 

In all my unrest 

In moments of malice 

I felt you divest 

And your burdensome silence 

Is too much to digest 

Growing like callous 

Into the veins of my chest --

Like vine in the lattice 

I wandered, aimless. 

Emerged from the forest

And sauntered abreast

To the mouths of the chorus,

Over thin seas of glass

I was an Alice,

Much drink t...

Rainbows

The silver lining in the grim pocket of a rainy day. 

Taken at 7:23PM after a shoot in the suburbia of Tampa, Florida.

Real Life, Because

Because I usually take my work too seriously.

Because drama is not always theatre.

Because I am not always a character.

Because pain is not always a performance.

Because pain is poetry.

Because I am often too proud to market myself.

Because I am overcome by obscurity.

Because striving to stay relevant feels inauthentic.

Because vagueness becomes me.

Because I am a professional disagreer.

Because I am not always pretty.

Because anxiety...

The Plight of Clarity (Semi-Finished Thought)

Often, I keep

All these words to myself,

Soften and sleep

Among the herd with stealth.

Like layman, laden 

With a latent scurf of radiance

Singing single syllable courtesies,

Performing surface maintenance.

Raging for raised wages,

While forgoing their health.

Presume and preach,

But refuse to reach 

For the higher shelf.

Will not hear teach

From within oneself.

Living as serfs

Apprai...

Subconsc[ience]

All those clever, broken

Silent moments.

All closed, never spoken

Violent notions.

And every intended emotion

Whispered away in the wind, unnoticed

Strangling the song of the awry voice, floating

Farther and farther from center,

Exploding

Shaky, uneven nerves

 Of the universe

Profane and perverse,

Caught up in its throat and

Choking on oceans of words

Which refuse to be heard.

Converging every breath of ev...

The Plight of Clarity. Unfinished Thought.

Often, I keep all these words to myself,

Soften and sleep among the herd with stealth.

Like layman, laden with a latent scurf of radiance

Singing single syllable courtesies,

and performing surface maintenance

Raging for raised wages, but won't reach for the higher shelf.

Absurd, had they heard words

Unrelated to material wealth.

Await, pray for patience, cadence.

Lost in grey gradience 

Caught in the crosshairs of complacence.

I ...

Regaining Clarity.

The body is a temple,

Reservoir of pain.

Drawn up from the water

To be thrust back down again.

Welcome life in gulps, heaving,

Momentary lapse of reason.

Soon as you find

Yourself dry,

You're thirsting for some rain...

Just out of focus;

Balance and clarity are not fixed and final.

They are daily practice and maintenance.

First & Forever

Often are dreams so lightly regarded,

With an airy frivolity 

Such as passing clouds

Who assume numerous fantasy

Calling the awe of the momentary wonderer

And are immediately relinquished

To the inexhaustible continuum of sky.

Business as usual.

But not for you,

My first and forever.

You were awake.

Your humanity was wide reaching and unassuming.

Your mind was an incredible arena.

Your dreams wer...

Tempest Revisited

I refuse to crouch and cower

Beneath a dark, shrouded truth

Beneath a bad, harrowing moon

Before a cloaked, sinister sun.

I will tear, furiously,

Those delusory robes

From her deceitful modesty,

And bathe

In the nudity of her rain.

I will dance

In the faithfull blows of veracity.

I will not be crippled

While there is all this infinite,

Fathomless highway

Pandering so eagerly underfoot;

I will crawl.

While...

Morning Fix: Coffee

I am currently sitting at a coffee shop somewhere in northern Texas, having a capuccino and getting my jones on for the 15 hour drive ahead of me.

Snow and ice storms have forced me and my little Tacoma to detour far south of my original route in order to avoid very icy roads and sleeping in freezing conditions. As such, I lost a lot of work.

However, I have quite enjoyed my solitude. Driving 12 hours at a time through a literal cloud that is dumping rain and sleet upon me mercilessly, h...

Touch.

A gentle movement

Against the skin,

And into the soul

Can either build or break.

Despite all the fortitude 

Of my history,

There is a fragility

In the unknown

And yet,

Despondency

In knowing.

Therefore, shall I

Tear it down.

Morning Resolve

Apologies.

I should apologize for leaving the blog hanging for a while. Rest assured that I have been quite busy turning out material for several different projects. However, I haven't found the 'desk time' to master editing, communicate with my collaborators, etc. I've got many pieces that just need putting together. However, I have taken on one too many familial obligations, and especially being that it's the holiday season, have sacrificed all personal time.

Regardless, I should be sh...

Morning Fix

Are you afraid of the dark, or is the light more difficult to adjust to?

For me, the evening is a celestial harbor; into whose welcoming darkness I enter to shed profane assignments and the respective expectations tied there. 

The light, and the other who resides there, can be left to the day.

The evening is a blanket of refuge for resting bodies, whilst respective souls enter into the infinitude of unconsciousness- ultimate consciousness, where they confidently transcend the ...

In preparation for what's to come...

As promised, here is an exclusive shot by my dear friend and collaborator, Roberto Hull, of the Hudson Valley.  This was taken in the Catskills this past summer. 

Roberto is kindly traveling to Jersey to shoot with me tomorrow, as I have made the decision not to travel to the Catskills this winter.

There is a relationship there which needs to enter its winter season with space to promote healing, growth and newness in the spring. 

Meanwhile, there is a relationship h...

Tempest Overcome

You give the man a fortune

For a brochure.

Literature noting

The nomad venture

That you’ve paid for.

More or less a bargain, 

But what is it worth?

Have a seat in the garden,

Fingers deep in the earth.

Hands full with the hearth

Lay back in the clover

Giving way to rebirth.

Sway back in the sober

Overcoming of dirt.

Strumming with wings of a bird,

The strings of mirth.

But hell, is oneâ€...

Peek inside the box.

Here is a set of polaroids from my last shoot in Austin, Texas a few weeks back with Dan (Lipstick Photo). They are now traveling over a thousand miles to their new home. I cannot express how it felt to intersperse my hand written poetry in between these shots, tie them all together with a ribbon, and mail them to my first patron. Stay tuned and consider making a pledge if you'd like to receive a box of goodies, or a discount on an upcoming book!

If you are interested in something s...

A closer look into the box sets.

Said goodbye to some beautiful prints like these two I resurrected from the archives, taken by David Aimone. I was much more clean cut, and with a few piercings I no longer have! They are off to their new home with my first patrons.

Much more where these came from!