We have all different levels of interest and participation when it comes to performing works in our workshop. However, we believe and can feel the collective heart and respect that our writers have for presenters, both themselves, and their peers. WE have MM in our workshop. He will be leaving us soon – he has always written, but seldom would read; however, that changed recently; we were so happy he blessed us with some of his heart before he heads on to life “on the outs.” Good luck, MM, we are here for you.

A poetry reading from a student at Georgetown University.

View more poetry readings in our Media Gallery.

For the full story, visit http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2927455.shtml?

The Lead Facilitators of the JustWrite Program, Carlos Contreras and Diahndra Grill, would like to give a special thanks to the Albuquerque MDC for making this project possible and allowing it to flourish.  Thanks also to Wendy Jason and Jiva Manske at Georgetown University for co-facilitating a write exchange between MDC and Georgetown.  Thanks to Adriana Ramirez de Arellano for collaborating with JustWrite and allowing Interns to work with us from the Feminism In Action course at the University of New Mexico.  Lastly, we’d like to give a big thanks to the talented writers and artists who have chosen to be present and share their voice in this project; you inspire us.

If you missed the live show on 3/25, you can tune in here:   http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19011218/032513_JustWrite.wav-

http://bit.ly/XBQP5m

Never silent
We lived so hard
And so authentically
We decided
To Write our lives
My fellow poets
Our hearts shake the world
A constant tremor
We heard the call
And chose not to remain
Silent
Now they have our
Hearts in their hands
This is how we pulled them
Into The Conversation

No wrong
Just Write

A matter of survival
Expressed with style
The world is full of weapons
We chose
To split the atom
With words
Vaporizing our worst enemy
Ourselves

We hold the keys
To our mental prison
the thousand separate
Islands of our despair
In a world full of pain
We chose poetry

And became masters
Of the healing art
Beginning with ourselves
The sickest patients
We wrote out the prescription

A world of drugs
We recommend words
You can spit them out
If you don’t like the
Way they go down.

We realized our lifetime goal:
To get high enough
To escape Earth’s atmosphere
We soared
And crashed
Just to tell you what it’s like
Up there
Madness is no longer an escape
Go there and find us
Waiting for you
Saying:

No Wrong
Just Write

You pioneers
Of following
You Onanistic
Voyeurs
You superstar
Stranded in last year’s
Deflated kicks
You unique copy
You ignored idol
You stolen gift
Based on a true story…
So it’s not a complete lie…
Here we are.

-RW