MISSION STATEMENT

SILENT VOICES SPEAK started out as Silent Voices: A Writer’s Workshop, as the first group at the drop-in center at the Broadway location of Community Counseling Centers of Chicago, whose purpose is to empower it’s attendees to form and attend their own groups.

We have branched out as an independent entity. We are silent no more. We say yes to the creative possibilities of life & art...

The mission of SILENT VOICES SPEAK is to give a voice to people who are disenfranchised. Many of the participants in SILENT VOICES SPEAK are also visual and/or performing artists.

Membership is open to all.
Send submissions to lizhipwell@gmail.com.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

ON HOLD WAS I by Elizabeth Hipwell


On hold was I
Trapped in my 5'8.5" physique
Held tight by the pain of my past
Held captive within the confines of fear
This prevented my hungry nature from soaring
To parts unknown that promised exotic adventures
Echoes of a past not half bad,
But not half good
A confusion of creativity
Scratching
Scratching
Scratching
Until it's fingertips drip with hunger and blood
Demanding to be unrestrained
To create
To express
To speak and be heard
A little fair haired
High cheek-boned
Educated lady
Not knowing her own worth
Feeling invisible
Embarrassed for
Needing, wanting and lusting
And having the audacity to say, "I am here!"
It is difficult to plant her large frame
Take up space
In the ground
Growing roots that extend
Through the layers of her existence
Planting new seeds
That takes root in my new found hope, love, and zeal
Idealism reinstated
Sticking with it
Even in the dark night of my soul
Cognizant that a pin light flickered at the end of the tunnel
I am a big woman
Passionate, loving and thoughtful
A tad insecure
Confident, however, that it does get better
The hard part has already happened
I am stronger for it
The risks I take now are easy compared to what I've been through
Having already lost a lot
Current endeavors are less daunting
I am plugged back into life
Not on hold
-Elizabeth Hipwell

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