(“Starry Eyed” by OtterinTheHat–www.deviantart.com)

(Inspired by @OFrank’s prompt of: Perserverance)

Pushing beyond my limits,
going beyond where they all said I should stay…
I mold the moon…
it’s spots are my fingerprints…
I create my own world
and follow my own destiny along silk lined roads.

Nothing can stop me.

I regret nothing but
not living to the edge of my existence every day.
I have washed the past away with endless tears….
stabbed myself with the ink of my words
and I still walk…

Nothing can deter me.

I have stumbled and crashed like lightning..
built houses of cards
that fluttered down
and fell apart…
I have shadowboxed my own demons for years..
Had nightmares of the past that had me immobilized
for fear I would grow up….
in hopes that I would never.

Pure and innocent tarnished with disrespect
Abandoned with rose petals..
Ignored by the sea…
I clung to the smoke in trees
and swam in rivers of ale…
the stench of my despair clung to my clothes…
the queen who reeked of her own sadness.

I still walk…

Despite the weight of what I thought I was…
the pain inflicted on me….
despite the bruises that still show fresh across my heart..
I still walk…
pushing past the vines that catch my feet…
cutting through the thickets of confusion
and running towards the sun at my horizon…

I still walk.

I am not a victim.

“Someday he’ll come along, The man I love
And he’ll be big and strong, The man I love
And when he comes my way
I’ll do my best to make him stay

He’ll look at me and smile, I’ll understand
Then in a little while, He’ll take my hand
And though it seems absurd
I know we both won’t say a word”

Star of  “Ugly Betty” and “Real Women Have Curves,” America Ferrera is one of my favorite Latina actresses today. She is absolutely gorgeous in the below spread for the October 2009 issue of Latina magazine. So beautiful!!!!

(Photographer not found)

“…when I was happy, always at the beginning of a love, euphoric, I felt I was gifted  for living many lives fully.  It was only when I was in trouble, lost in a maze, stifled by complications and paradoxes that I was haunted or that I spoke of my ‘madness,’ but I meant the madness of the poets.”

The words “La Perle Noire” is French for “The Black Pearl.”

One hundred times more rare than a white pearl, the black pearl represents the unique, the unusual, the hard to find and hard to become. The term was also given  to Josephine Baker, a Jazz Age star who’s sensual dancing and brown skin caused an uproar in France.

How would this phrase look tattooed in elegant script across my wrist? Hmmmmm…

In the aftermath of her brother’s death, Janet has kept quite silent. In the October 2009 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, she gives an exclusive interview on Michael and her break up with Jermaine Dupri. Look at these gorgeous photos from the interview…classic, glamorous and elegant.  I love the look.

Photography by Tom Munro

(“Wonder Woman” By Theirison–www.deviantart.com)

(Inspired by @OohErika’s prompt of: pain….though I changed it to OVERCOMING pain…LoL)

Figure it out…
they give her tarnished puzzle pieces…
tarred with confusion…
marbled with the fear of failure…
She cries into palms scraped and calloused
from the exertion of survival….
How will she be able to pick up the pieces
if to the world all that is broken is her?

She yearns…
to explode and color the world purple with delight….
to savor life in gulps and
break the boundaries of provinciality…
Always wishing…
her creativity to flourish…
in swoops of black ink across the page…
to teach her child the movements of beauty
and to smile at the winds of change that carry her.

She dreams of pebbles in her pocket…
that sprout diamonds and rubies
once tossed to the ground…
Of virtuous dragons that sleep in flowerbeds
and passionate songs of patience and love….

Her heart cannot take anymore
crushed hopes and lost loves…
cannot take the dusty promises and wishful thinking…
she has given up on giving in…
closed her heart to the future…
because she hurts from the past…

But now her mind is made up…
no longer will she wilt against her destiny…
It’s obvious this was her plan all along….
so she plants her feet in the soil
and watches her own tree limbs
grow to heights she never thought possible.

She dares you to stop her…

She is her own wonder woman.

In a web exclusive on August 18th, 2009, Vanity Fair put out these amazing photos of the gorgeous Latina actress/ model Zoe Saldana. If you know me, you know I love art deco, roaring 20′s, Harlem Renaissance styling…and this speaks volumes of it. She looks amazing….classy and glamorous.

Photography by Michael Roberts, Styling by Jessica Diehl

If you’re in NYC and you’re in a rush, you don’t even stop and look at the art that decorates the subway stations… but you’d be quite surprised at the gorgeous and cultural work that is up through out the NYC subway system.

Here are some of my all-time faves.

The first one is located on the 6 train line stop of  East 110th street and was created by Manuel Vega in 1996. It is entitled “Un Sabado en la Ciento Diez (A Saturday on 110th Street)”, and is a wonderful interpretation of the once Puerto Rican dominated Spanish Harlem.  Peep the piragua man with his Yankee cap and the open fire hydrant which is the urban signal that summer has arrived. LoL

 The second image I want to share is this amazing piece done for the West 81st street B/C/D line (the Museum of Natural History). Created by the MTA Arts for Transit program in 1999, it is entitled “For Want of a Nail”. This is one of the exits of the station and it depicts the Earth sliced open to reveal the many layers it has. Awesome and colorful and unique…I LOVE this one!

(I don’t normally put the entire song’s lyrics on my site, but this particular one is one of my favorites, and I felt the song in it’s entirety would be much more appreciated! Enjoy)

This goes out to you and you and you
You know who you are

Hmm hmm hmm
When glory days turn to stormy nights
You must have been so petrified
Didn’t you, didn’t you feel so cold
You against the world in a losing fight
Captive of your demons inside

So you sought an enemy
(I’m not your enemy. He lives in you, you know it’s true)
Like times before to mock ignorantly
(But the Lord said love, love your enemy so just…)
Take heed to the Word it’s time
Check Proverbs 19:29
Don’t cry

I wish you well
I wish you well
I wish you well

I truly wanted solidarity
Still wearing my blinders back then
(So much I didn’t see)
I weep for what I dreamed we all could be
I’ll keep you in prayer till the end

Still bruised, still walk on eggshells
Same frightened child, hide to protect myself
(Can’t believe I still need to protect myself from you)
But you can’t manipulate me like before
Examine first John chapter 4 verse 4

And
I wish you well
I wish you well
I wish you well

Be strong in the Lord and power of His might

If my shows of gratitude are miniscule
Inside your mind, sorry
(I’m so sorry, please forgive me)
There’s only so much I can do I love you and did all that I could

Maybe when you’re cursing me
You don’t feel so incomplete
But we’ve all made mistakes
Felt the guilt and self-hate

I know you’ve been there for me plenty
Maybe still got love for me
But let him without sin cast the first stone brethren
But who remains standing then
Not you not I see Phillipians 4:9
(Put it into practice and the God of Peace will be with you)

So
I wish you well
I wish you well
I wish you well

(He who the Son sets free is free indeed)
No weapon formed against me shall prosper
Surely God is my salvation
I will trust and not be afraid
The Lord, the Lord is my salvation
I will trust in Him
Yes, I know that I know that I know that I know

But I have had God’s help to this very day
And so I stand here and testify
To small and great alike
So the more you curse me
The more you’re blessing me
The Word said it
Love your enemies

Do good to those who curse you
Pray for those who mistreat you
Psalms 129:2
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth
But they have not gained victory over me
(In Jesus’ name)

I wish you well

He that keeps his mind state on the Lord
He will keep them in perfect peace

Take a look at these artsy promo pics for Amerie’s new album “In Love and War”…I love them…so unique. I couldn’t find the name of the digital artist or the photographer…but these are fierce!!!!! My favorite is the first one with the elongated red lashes, the animal and skulls in the print, and I love how her leg becomes part of the art! Love the last one’s watercolor feel…and the intense purple of the second one. Me likes!

The runner-up of the 5th cycle of “America’s Next Top Model”, Nik Pace graced the pages of Essence magazine for their September 2009 issue in the last stages of her pregnancy. How ethereal and gorgeous does she look? I love the pics and the play on silouhettes.

Gorgeous photography work done by Corey Reese photography

(“Anger”-By Dark-Asphyxiation–www.deviantart.com)

(Inspired by @jabba5′s prompt of : anger)

Red like blood…
blinded with the fuel of his own rage…
his fists pummel the air…
wishing to destroy thoughts
that wrap themselves
in the leaden fear of his own vulnerability.

Too much destruction that lay like debris
in the hidden areas of his soul…
there is no light in the dark of his pain…
He cannot see gold in the night…
He fears the emotion…
so he rolls his heart in concrete…
and floods his sleep
with pungent dreams of disappointment and rage.

Sparked to life by the rush…
the heart aches unbearably.

He doesn’t need to know the answers
when he can’t change them…
Pushes away soft and sweet
with cold and cruel…
His anger speaks for him…
He wants to feel nothing….

He fights off ideas of intimacy…
fights off comfort with violent embraces…
ruthless in his manipulation…
He does not care.

He is engulfed in the fury
of his own tumultuous spirit…
Sees his reflection in the mirror…
and closes his eyes to the truth of his own face.

He will not allow his heart to betray him again…
He is red…
Rouged with anger…

Awake for fear of what he faces in his dreams.

Pam Courson: “I love it when you sing to me.”

Jim Morrison: “That’s cuz I’m the poet and you’re my muse….”

I found these when I was browsing different blogs and I fell in love with her beautiful watercolors. So intense in color and beautifully rich…I would love a print (or two) of one of her pieces… Check some of my faves below.

If you like her work, check her out at www.stinaperrson.com

(“Passion”- By Kalmia–www.deviantart.com)

(Inspired by Alexandria S. [www.ahlexandria.com] prompt of: reality)

Veiled in the soft chiffon of twilight…
He stood among the others as if my truest hallucination.
He was the essence of my own desires…
beautiful and decadent….
florid and robust….
His laugh thundered and they all paled in comparison
to the intensity of his smile
that crackled like lightning across the planes of his face.

I was devastated with emotion
from the very moment we met….
my heart festering in my yearnings…
I grasped onto a reality that seemed fixated
on wanting all of him…
inside of me.

Every whisper, every eyelash and curl of his lip…
every smooth chuckle…
every heart beat to match my own…
Rhythms of our breathing mixed with trumpets…
Silken whispers and calloused hands on satin thighs…
I inhale this moment as if it is my last breath…
Deeply.

Drunk off of kisses and fingertips…
The night is ours…
swathed in incandescent flesh…
caresses that burn…
branding us with the exquisite incarnation of our fantasies…
Even with our eyes closed..
we see each other in plain view…

Beautiful…
You are so beautiful…
His words are whispered into my curled tresses
and my feverish tears begin spilling
as the first rays of sun mark the approaching morning…
All too soon…

A new day for us
Only means long wistful glances back…
a return to lives that cage us in gold…

Our last kiss tastes of dusk and traces of moonlight…
One night’s dreams now face the reality of the dawn.

I have posted previously about famed fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo and how I adore his delicately chic yet detailed drawings. Commissioned by Penguin Classics to recreate the covers of three major literary classics, Toledo proved himself worthy of the job.  *DrooL* I love all three covers.

Wuthering Heights by Emile Bronte

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen

“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Perhaps I am on a “True Blood” trip, but Anna Paquin (a.k.a Sookie Stackhouse) looks absolutely GORGEOUS in this photo shoot for the September issue of NYLON magazine….loving the black and white film and the leather jacket with her blonde hair….DOPE! 

(Photographer not listed on their website)

(“Letting Go”-By PaniFilth–www.deviantart.com)

Petrified with adoration…
The love we made
spread sweetly between my thighs,
impregnating my body with romantic fantasies
that soon contracted in my womb
and birthed my own despairs.

Pricked my finger on thorny roses
given with ill intentions,
swept off my feet with distracted efforts,
Honeyed lips that dizzied a heart
full of wonder and widened with hope…
Believed in a lacking sincerity to the point of blind faith…
My heart created the silver linings to our clouds….
and saw lilies where your foot fell.

I could not breathe without your scent…
I could not see without your hand there to guide me…
lingering fingertips that brushed my lips with contradictions…
I begged to be the nymph of your daydreams…
Hidden in the mossy emeralds of your eyes
and in the moons of your smiles.

Yet the farther I reached for you…
and the more diamonds I made from the dying coals of my past…
The more your feathered wings yearned
to fly back to a nest that lay cold without you.

So, there, little bird…
I fling you towards the sun…
watch your rubied throat warble now with ease…
and cry into palms stained with the intensity of my anguish.

And as I sew the tattered remnants of what once was
back into my soul…
I see the dust of sapphires sprinkled on my flesh…
I gleam with my own pearlescence…
looking to the velvet sky…

My epiphanies…
My Hallelujah to the celestial Heavens…
reminds me that my star had never dimmed.