(Un)heard Voices

We're excited to feature emerging writers with unique stories: Lisa Zheng,
Erin Fightmaster, Lulu Wong, Mary Freericks, James Coats, Carlos Ornelas, M.W.S.W, Esmeralda E. Hazelwood, Sergio Trujillo, C. Diane Ealy, Ella Wen, Sergio, K.L., Rosie Angelica Alonso, Karo Ska, Michelle Ibarra, Remi Graves, Alberto G, Francis Smith, Jahan Khalighi, Tajae Brown, Chelsea Dillaha, Sanam Sulveen, Dominic Lim, Andrea Torres and Sofia Kerrigan. We're delighted to showcase voices of young poets in But I'm Still Here,
Poems from Below & Why Does This Poem Have to End?

For Lisa Zheng, Sonoma County Youth Poet Laureate and a high school senior, poetry is an empty Google Doc or a fresh leaf of paper where she can escape the rules of school essays to pour out her rawest experiences. A “word nerd”, Zheng’s purpose for poetry, besides personal catharsis, is giving voice to the psychological turmoils many teens experience that are often hidden due to shame, in order to give them hope and cause for change. Her poem, Different Forms of Love, draws a multilayered and multifaceted world with her fearless, insightful poetic eye and gift of language.
Ba's distant, gift-laden attempts at connection,
my mother's demanding, disciplined affection,
and lao lao's quiet, unconditional protection.
Love’s many languages . . .

Erin Fightmaster is a weaver of words who is as passionate about poetry as she is about teaching youth and raising them up with her magic into inspired, confident adults. Her love for poetry started in 7th grade when she was introduced to Shakespeare and spent a year learning to write poetry. Since then, poetry has served as an outlet for her to digest her life. She loves the creative flow of words and the ability to work without boundaries. Poetry has also taken a primary role in her classroom, where she writes and shares her poetry alongside her students. We are excited to publish these poems that Erin wrote in the classroom and share them with you. The Car Ride, My Heart, An Unforgettable Day, On the Other Side of Today, What is Fair?

Lulu Wong is a new poet-teacher, retired attorney, former pediatric hospital chaplain at UCDavis Medical Center, graduate from Yale University where she was the editor of the Asian American Journal, and published poet. Her poetry has appeared in the anthology “Chiral Mad 5” (Written Backwards, 2022) and online by the California Poets in the Schools. She has been a life coach for Girls on the Run (6th-8th grades) and a reading tutor for pre-K and kindergarten students. She brings to the classroom her diverse background and encourages engagement through expressions of identity, connection with complex feelings, spoken word, discovery, and class collaboration. She can be reached at [email protected]. When we first heard Lulu Wong read Kviv was not the garden of my childhood, we were struck by her extraordinary talent at blending the pain of history with personal, everyday experience. We've added a few more poems for your enjoyment. Unbowed, Making Lentil Soup while Chanting the Heart Sutra, Challah for Susan,
A Tree Does Not Reject Any Form of Water, and 3 tankas/wakas and 2 haikus.

Mary Freericks is a prize-winning poet. Her publications include ten books of poetry and numerous anthologies. Blue Watermelon focuses on her life in Iran and arriving in America, Cheer for Freedom continues with her life in the U.S.A. and Furs for a Vegetarian focuses on her Russian mother, an artist. Her latest memoir is From Wife to Widow. She is currently working on Single in Santa Barbara. Mary has led workshops for the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and California Poets in the Schools. Her featured poetry readings include the Distinguished Poets Series, William Carlos Williams Poetry Center, International Women’s Writers, Armenian Students. Her poems have been made into films, including The Bombing of Tabriz, and featured in Santa Barbara's film festival. Mary is also a renowned visual artist. The symbolism in her War with Iran effortlessly provides a powerful statement against the warmongering of our times.

James Coats is an author, poet and educator from Southern California. As a creative change agent, he believes the arts can inspire and influence positive change in the world. His newest poetry collection Midnight & Mad Dreams is published by World Stage Press. If you can hear James perform his poems, you will be blown away. Like in the written version of his poetry, each line carries you to a deeper and broader landscape of lyricism and meaning where the personal and collective become one. We are proud to publish The Only Thing Certain & Laugh Now, Cry Later, two of James's most recent poems. Everyday there is another fire to put out/catastrophe to avoid,/as more people lose their minds and spines/ I hold it together with a thin web of love./ Remember the lullabies with which my mother sang me to sleep.

Carlos Ornelas is a Mesoamerican Poet from Lynwood, California and the author of two poetry collections. As an artist, Ornelas is dedicated to the preservation of culture and the advancement of the arts. We are honored to publish Tell You What, a powerful response to our fraught times.
Carlos Ornelas’ ability to create a strong brown trensa out of poetry, melodies, music production and contagious cadence catching verbiage is unheard of. He retains the ability to take the reader through colorful neighborhoods and gift a front-row seat to the dysfunction of growing up Mexican in the 80s and 90s. He is a maddening lover of poetry lending countless hours to the art form until birthing a genetic code of authentic Chicano veins. Sandy Shakes

We are so excited to introduce M.W.S.W., a gifted poet from Santa Rosa, California, with his first published collection in progress, Let Me Be & Other Poems. M.W.S.W. is an extraordinary fifth grader who recently discovered the magic of poetry. Through the natural rhythm of his voice, his words express an unusually mature sensitivity and depth. We are thrilled to be his first publisher!
Let me live not exist and not let my young memories
get shrouded in a dark black mist
Let my head not be trapped in a dark cloud,
but be more confident, and someday maybe even proud . . .

Esmeralda E. Hazelwood is a talented, budding writer who was born and raised in Santa Rosa, California. Her poem, Sea of Flags, was written during her junior year at Roseland Collegiate Prep high school. It comes from the heart and is a reflection of the malignant close-mindedness that still pervades our modern culture. By writing this poem, Esmeralda hopes to shed light on the impact such prejudice and discrimination causes while inspiring others like her to be proud of who they are. While the future is a blank slate, she currently hopes to find a future career working with therapy and support animals.

We are super excited to publish Sergio Trujillo's Where I'm From, his poem about Sonoma County, a place that many outsiders, and privileged insiders, see as wine-growing heaven. Nineteen year old Sergio deftly sums up in devastatingly spare poetic lines the reality of the county for many of its inhabitants, some of whom are the men and women who toil in the vineyards and pour the elixir into glasses to make that "heaven" possible.

I am from a place where you see people living on the street
I am from a state where the cost of living isn't cheap
I am from a neighborhood where you see taco trucks all over . . .

C Diane Ealy, Ph.D. is the author of the best-selling book, The Woman’s Book of Creativity and
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Spirituality in the Workplace. Unknown Gods is her contribution to the visionary fiction genre. She co-authored two books designed to empower women to heal their relationship with money. While she enjoys writing, allowing her poet self to emerge has enabled her to play with words while painting images in the minds of her audience. She lives in Tucson, AZ with her cat, Izzy. Diane's poem Something to Believe captured us with its dry wit and insistence on control of one's fate post-demise. As did Nature's' Cleaning Crew, a tragicomedic twist on the power of nature.
Sprinkle me outside into the ocean or the Grand Canyon
or the Chiricahuas – someplace peaceful and beautiful
somewhere people don’t walk . . .

Ella Wen is the Sonoma County Poet Laureate and the 2021 Sonoma County Winner of Poetry Out Loud, awarded Honorary Mention at the California State Finals. She is a freshman at Maria Carrillo High School and adores the arts, especially writing poetry. It helps her orchestrate her thoughts, where her heart is the rhythm. She hopes to spread societal awareness and new perspectives through the written voice. Cascading Rambles is part of her collection of poems, marking her first publication.

Gunshots are muffled by crystal clear piano solos
Played on the lovely ivory keys of our world . . .
Melodies that chant that the world is okay

Remi Graves is based in London and currently pursues the things she loves, namely writing poetry and playing the drums. She is a member of the Roundhouse Poetry Collective and co-presents a monthly radio show called the Two Step. Her poem Ghosts of Gao was inspired by the banning of music in Mali. Click here to see Remi performing live!

Perceived by mobile phones and pairs of eyes
But there can be no songs sung to lament this crime
The whole world turns a blind eye . . .

Rosie Angelica Alonso was born in East L.A and received an MFA in poetry from Cal State University, San Bernardino. Her poetry recounts stories of the working class people in the barrios, the myths of La Virgen Roachalupe, and the overlooked Chicano punk culture in East Los Angeles. Her poetry collection, The Cockroach Manifesto, is forthcoming in 2020. Whoa Nelly Press is delighted to vote How to Befriend Cockroaches as the new (inter)national anthem.

Grant the cucarachas official citizenship
Print a legal document welcoming them into your home
I hereby declare thee, cucarachas, of the United States of Familia . . .

Jahan Khalighi is a poet, spoken word artist, musician, and educator who is passionate about the way creative expression can facilitate personal and social transformation, beautifully portrayed in What You See. He was a two-time member of the Eugene Poetry Slam Team and Co-Founder of CommuniTree an arts, ecology and social justice project based out of Oakland, CA. He served as a poet teacher for June Jordan's Poetry For The People program at UC Berkeley and currently teaches as a poet-in-residence for California Poets In The Schools. He is a member of the Justice Arts Collective a multicultural group of poets, musicians, dancers dedicated to social justice through the arts and community building.

When you think Middle Easterner
You say
Terrorist, suicide bomber,
flag burner, ISIS
But you don’t smell the intoxicating
aromas of my grandmother's kitchen . . .
\

Karo Ska (she/they) is a South Asian & Eastern European non-binary femme poet, living on occupied Tongva Land (aka Los Angeles) with their black cat muse. Anti-capitalist & anti-authoritarian, they find joy where they can. grandma's hands, a beautifully voiced poem of skillfully interwoven strands of identities, is from their first chapbook, gathering grandmothers' bones, which was released on February 29th, 2020. For updates, follow them on Instagram @karoo_skaa or check out their website karoska.com.

My dripping fingers weave
gnarled amino acids, revealing
an ancient script: I was not intentional
yet I’m here . . .

From a young child, Gordon Blitz was called a girlie, fag, queer, and homo. Getting towel whipped, stomach punched and spit on were part of his world. His father, who died after Gordon’s Bar Mitzvah, berated him with shouts of “Walk straight.” Gordon never found his writer’s voice until he retired in 2017 and became a passionate writing machine. His publications include his novella Shipped Off (print and audiobook), in such publications as Wingless Dreamer, Two Hawks Quarterly, Issue #22 of Really Systems, and Gay Wicked Ways. Ten of his autobiographical stories are available on the Queer Slam Episode 21, podcast “Just Gordon.” https://soundcloud.com/queerslam/. Blog: https://culturecritique.blog/.
Gordon dedicates his work to all the sissies in the world who need to tell their stories
so is understood how We got here.

Michelle Ibarra was a junior at a high school specializing in the arts when she wrote this poem. She was the 2017 guest spoken word artist at the Alliance for Girls Women's Conference, a 2017 semifinalist in the Youth Speaks Poetry Slam Competition and the 2017 runner up in the SF Poetry Out Loud Competition. She hopes to further pursue poetry and share her personal story with others. To Love A Latina illuminates the love, inspiration and empowerment that Michelle brings to her audiences.

If the Spanish language is chile setting fire to their gums
Our lips are ghost peppers, marinated with la lengua de nuestros antepasados . . .

Tajae Brown was a senior at San Francisco Waldorf High school when she wrote this poem and is now attending Howard University. She aspires to be a physician and eventually open up her own clinic in an underserved community. We're thrilled to publish the powerful voice of this young woman who, in her essay Turnaround., exhibits a spirit that refuses to be extinguished.

A number of different people told me not to be so sensitive, despite how many times I was teased and bullied for the color of my skin. I developed a thick hard shell, making it hard for me to open up and be myself around anyone. I grew up a shy kid who never spoke up for herself or demanded much. I settled for what was around me simply adjusted to flying under the radar. But not anymore . . .

Alberto G is a young poet of many rhythms and feels a strong connection between poetry and music. He has a wealth of talent and mentors and inspires youth based on his own experiences and struggles. He is excited to be published for the first time and to share his Life Story.

Born in 2000, in Ecuador, where everyone in my section was poor
Young age dropped at the door, just an orphan without a family
Some would call that a tragedy, but all was good I was adopted at three . . .

Francis Smith is a California poet with a keen eye for human experience after living a lifetime of it. We are proud to feature his question for all of us in his Do You See? in our rodeo of unheard voices.
When you look in my eyes
Do you feel bold . . . get mesmerized
And try to hold my gaze
Or does the pain you see
Make you catch your breath and turn away?

Boho accountant by day, aspiring storyteller by night with a colorful South Asian heritage, Sanam was on the trajectory of meeting all the checklist items scripted by her first generation, immigrant parents. Fortunately, fate or destiny had different plans and poured whiteout over all her checkmarks. Frustrated, she sat down to write her own checklist when she thought she heard God laughing. She is currently living a content, checklist-free life. Anyone who has ever had a problem with hair (or not) will love Sanam's Prayer for Hair.

In accordance with the advice of a village elder, my father even shaved the peach fuzz on my little head and released it into Lake Michigan as an offering to solicit the help of Dharti Maa[ to grant
me luscious locks that would span the breadth and depth of the waters across the world. And when there were no signs of his prayers being accepted, he resorted to bargaining with God—to take his
hair and give it to me . . .

Dominic Lim is ecstatic to be making his debut as a writer on the Whoa Nelly Press website. After many years working as an actor, singer and classical musician, Dominic has finally decided to make a go at his other great love: writing. He is currently enrolled in the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Writing at UC Berkeley. Dominic is an intellectual property paralegal at Amyris, Inc. in Emeryville and is proud to call Oakland his home. We are delighted to feature Dominic's three-part autobiographical short story, Tinago Triptych.
Dear Superman,
I just saw your movie tonight. I want you to know how much I loved it.
You are the most handsome man in the world.
One day I am going to marry you . . .

Andrea Torres is a communications professional in San Francisco. Her passions include cooking, her German Shepherd, the written word and her friends and family. It is with great pleasure that Whoa Nelly Press features Andrea's personal essay, Pisco Sour.

At the age of six my world changed from family gatherings to leaving behind everything and everyone I held dear. The Shining Path, Ascendero Luminoso, a terrorist organization, were kidnapping families, blowing up power plants and instilling terror throughout the country. You never knew if you would come home to power or a house full of melted wax covered appliances because of the candles that littered every surface . . .

Chelsea Dillaha is a 26 year old mother and student currently working towards her high school diploma. She dropped out of her freshman year and decided to come back to finish what she started. Her life has been anything but easy. Even with all these obstacles in front of her, she makes a way to get through the things that were meant to tear her down. You’ll understand her better once you read her poems, Past and My Face. Chelsea is a book you won’t want to put down.
My face is reckless . . .
some see it as art
others do not

"K.L” is a 18 year old poet who became a mother at 14. She grew up in a house of addiction and
violence. Conquered through alcoholism herself and turned her life around. Through poetry
she tells stories of her past and what times of struggle felt like. West Ave & Other Poems are
published for the first time at Whoa Nelly Press.
Violence and colors take over the street
Taggings and numbers only to be seen
Dope and smoke fills the air

Sofia Kerrigan is a fifth-grade student at Gravenstein Elementary School in Sebastopol. Sofia’s passions are playing sports, reading, and jumping on the trampoline with her five sisters. Sofia hopes to attend Stanford University when she graduates High School. She is excited to share two of her poems, Inside Outside and My Sestina Parts I & 2.
Inside I want people to understand
Outside I understand them
Inside I am wanting everyone to know
Outside I want no one to know

But I'm Still Here is an anthology of poetry by eleventh graders at Roseland Collegiate Prep in Santa Rosa, CA. During a poetry residency taught by author Margo Perin, in a school impacted by climate change, socio-economic injustice and, concurrently, trauma from the Covid-19 pandemic, students wrote on a variety of themes affecting their inner and outer selves. Mr. Leong, their classroom teacher and poet in his own right, was an inspirational presence in the workshops and constant cheerleader of his students.

In pitch darkness, we lived
The sun tired of shining in the morning sky . . .
The tree leaves falling from the sky
As if it was raining leaves . . .
The world slowly recovering
From what was once lost . . .

Poems from Below is an anthology of poetry by eighth graders at Bowditch Middle School in Foster City, California. In two one-hour workshops in each classroom, Margo Perin gave a variety of writing prompts to the young poets who wrote based on what was important to them at that moment, on that day, at that time. The poems have not been edited, so that the untethered voices of the poets can be heard in the same manner in which they were written.
The poetry residency was made possible by the support of gifted classroom teachers, Jasmine Amar and Rob Picciotto, who understand and promote the power of the imagination in the lives of youth. Funding was generously provided by Bowditch Middle School PTSA.
I didn't feel it anymore
That heart pounding tongue twisting feeling
That feeling when you try to talk but no words come out
That feeling when you’re happy inside and out
I feel nothing except regret . . .

Why Does This Poem Have to End? is a collection of poetry by fourth graders at John Muir Elementary School who, with the generous funding of California Poets in the Schools, wrote poetry under the tutelage of author Margo Perin. Classroom teacher Ms. Liebert, one of the finest teachers in San Francisco with her quiet yet insistent belief in superior education for all children, welcomed Margo to lead her students into an exploration of their feelings and imaginations. Ms. Carter, her teacher in training, significantly contributed to the warm, supportive environment in which the children wrote and performed their poems.
Why do there have to be earthquakes
Why do kids have to listen to adults
How does gravity work
Why is there so much violence
Why are there so many planets just over there doing nothing . . .