I dreamt that I was walking down the halls of an unfamiliar school. The school may have been unfamiliar but the way that I carried myself in my pupil days was not. I’ve always had a big spirit, but growing up I didn’t always know that or know my purpose or how valuable it was….
Category: writers
Prayer and offerings
Family gathering for the living and deceased Table spread with savory foods, rich bread, and sweets A voided space between realms filled with laughter Candles lit for prayer, protection, and to guide our loved ones along the way Water poured into fancy glasses for libations and hydration Music playing to raise the frequency of the…
My truth, your truth, whose truth?
The truth will set you free or hold others in captivity. Hear me out. We journey through life experiencing all of these beautiful lessons. I say beautiful because each experience is a lesson that leads to our expansion. That growth and expansion could be mental, emotional, physical, and/or spiritual. Nonetheless, growth is beautiful to experience,…
Bath house
Bath House. Private. Hidden sanctuary that only the lost souls can find. The map is their sorrow, their tears a stream of tranquil waters and their longing for healing keeps them afloat. Bath house. Private. Hidden sanctuary that only the broken souls have the password for admission. When they arrive at the gate, the whispers of…
Event Announcement + Four Poems
Before the final poems that I’ll be posting in my tenure as the Racine Writer-in-Residence, I want to say thank you to all the readers who have visited over the past six months. I would also like to invite everyone to attend the Open Mic & Performance Showcase I’ll be hosting as my community project…
Let’s Be Bad
by Jessie Lynn McMains Sometimes, I want to do bad things. This is not a confession of nefarious plots or dirty thoughts. Maybe I should rephrase it. Sometimes, I want to allow myself to be bad at things. I want to let myself make crappy stuff. I want to let myself just make the absolute…
READ MORE POETRY (#thesealeychallenge)
by Jessie Lynn McMains If you follow the same sorts of people on social media as I do, every year in late July, your feeds are flooded with photographs of hulking book-stacks and captions that read something along the lines of: Can’t wait to read these in August! #thesealeychallenge. And if you’re anything like me,…
Jack Kerouac in Racine
by Jessie Lynn McMains (& Jack Kerouac) The children in Monument Square pay no attention to me, either that or because I’m a ghost they don’t see me. Belle City rattles in my haunted head — O to be out in Racine in the summereve, air so wet and thick it slicks along my shoulders…
Why Bother? (we set out to change the world & ended up just changing ourselves)
by Jessie Lynn McMains There’s a scene towards the end of the film Velvet Goldmine, when Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor) says to Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale): “We set out to change the world, and ended up just changing ourselves.” “What’s wrong with that?” Arthur asks. “Nothing,” Curt replies, “If you don’t look at the world.”…
What I Wanted to Say …
by John Bloner, Jr. This is my final article as Racine Writer-In-Residence as I will hand off its baton to the next honoree on July 1st. Thank you to ArtRoot, the Osborne & Scekic Family Foundation, Nick Ramsey, and the Racine Literacy Council for their support and encouragement. Over the past six months, the Krazines,…
Racine Writer-In-Residence Project 