“Joy is not being in love and not being bitter. It is friendship, it is agreement. Joy is a Polaroid army crawling it’s way into life. It is a childhood gift wrapped and returned to the Syrian orphan. It is being beautiful and not having have a man tell you so. It is finding yourself warm enough for these lonely winter nights. It is it is finding yourself and finding yourself whole after so long.”
Every time I listen to Alysia, everytime, my heart erupts into a flurry of wonder. She is such an incredible writer and communicator. What a beautiful being that God gifted us with. What a beautiful.
"Sometimes joy means you have to be an archeologist and an astronomer rolled into one. Sometimes you gotta dig deeper, sometimes you gotta see farther"
"Sometimes joy means you have to be an archaeologist and an astronomer rolled into one" this part got me, the fact that you have to understand what's on Earth but also not give up on the ambiguity of what's in the sky, the fact that you have to understand the past but also look forward to the future, the fact that you are allowed to go over what has already happened but shouldn't stop yourself from hoping for a better 'what's going to happen" or the fact that you shouldn't stop counting the stars. There's so many ways to take this, I loved it ❤
When youve worked so hard for years learning to love yourself, insecurities and all, despite some men thinking you need there validation....yes i agree "Joy is being beautiful and not having a man tell you so" 👏
"I'm proud of my thighs. Because unlike the Red Sea, they did not part for a man who thought himself God" -probably wrong wording but you get my point- Best line.
I'm crying right now. Joy was something I was taught a good Christian had but was always just out of my reach cause of depression. I felt broken for having to manufacture joy, for it not coming naturally and seeming to always take its sweet time. But i waited for it, i looked up through rain to identify it, i fought to stay alive long enough to glimpse it. And now I'm building it for myself as a home. Love this poem -Lee 💙
I’m continuously in awe of this woman, seeing her from the first time with “The Drug Dealer’s Daughter” to now, it makes me want to write a poem that reminds myself that grief is not the goal of living.
I love “The Drug Dealer’s Daughter” as well (different artists) but if you haven’t heard “That Girl” it’s amazing. The first poem I ever heard from her. And also “This Woman” written many years later. ❤
"I wished it would just consume me" I can relate so much, I remember sitting in the public library, no feelings but depression, hoping the darkness would just take over, because if it killed me, I wouldn't be worried about it's torture, of the toll I had on everyone I loved
I first heard this poem years ago, but lines from it ripple through me all the time, particularly the line about finding yourself, and finding yourself whole. Hard to say, harder still to do - but worth working towards!
“Joy is not being in love and not being bitter. It is friendship, it is agreement. Joy is a Polaroid army crawling it’s way into life. It is a childhood gift wrapped and returned to the Syrian orphan. It is being beautiful and not having have a man tell you so. It is finding yourself warm enough for these lonely winter nights. It is it is finding yourself and finding yourself whole after so long.”
I felt that... I felt the whole piece
Every time I listen to Alysia, everytime, my heart erupts into a flurry of wonder. She is such an incredible writer and communicator. What a beautiful being that God gifted us with. What a beautiful.
Sometimes I feel that a poem like this has found me and not the other way around. Thank you 💜
"Sometimes joy means you have to be an archeologist and an astronomer rolled into one. Sometimes you gotta dig deeper, sometimes you gotta see farther"
"Sometimes joy means you have to be an archaeologist and an astronomer rolled into one" this part got me, the fact that you have to understand what's on Earth but also not give up on the ambiguity of what's in the sky, the fact that you have to understand the past but also look forward to the future, the fact that you are allowed to go over what has already happened but shouldn't stop yourself from hoping for a better 'what's going to happen" or the fact that you shouldn't stop counting the stars. There's so many ways to take this, I loved it ❤
When youve worked so hard for years learning to love yourself, insecurities and all, despite some men thinking you need there validation....yes i agree "Joy is being beautiful and not having a man tell you so" 👏
"I'm proud of my thighs. Because unlike the Red Sea, they did not part for a man who thought himself God" -probably wrong wording but you get my point- Best line.
Drilon Kennedy-Gorné it's incorrect tho
I'm crying right now. Joy was something I was taught a good Christian had but was always just out of my reach cause of depression. I felt broken for having to manufacture joy, for it not coming naturally and seeming to always take its sweet time. But i waited for it, i looked up through rain to identify it, i fought to stay alive long enough to glimpse it. And now I'm building it for myself as a home. Love this poem -Lee 💙
I’m continuously in awe of this woman, seeing her from the first time with “The Drug Dealer’s Daughter” to now, it makes me want to write a poem that reminds myself that grief is not the goal of living.
Savanah Hernandez The drug dealers daughter was actually Siaarra Freeman, not Alysia both great, beautiful poets and poems
I love “The Drug Dealer’s Daughter” as well (different artists) but if you haven’t heard “That Girl” it’s amazing. The first poem I ever heard from her.
And also “This Woman” written many years later. ❤
I cannot stop coming back to this poem every day, it is so beautiful.
"I wished it would just consume me"
I can relate so much, I remember sitting in the public library, no feelings but depression, hoping the darkness would just take over, because if it killed me, I wouldn't be worried about it's torture, of the toll I had on everyone I loved
So relatable. I cried.
Truly amazing! I have loved her work since I heard "That Girl"
This literally gave me chills! Thank you.
Joy is Alyssa Harris 🦋🦋🦋. This is simply beautiful.
So many tears... this really hit me. ♡
She's got my standing ovation 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I love this new version of this! I had seen the other performance a million times. I love the new nuances and variation! Nice!
So beautiful... Gave me chills. Simply perfect
💕 I need a book from Alysia
NeickhaSuPRA she has one!
Maria Avalos what is the book called
She has plenty. All are worth it❤
I first heard this poem years ago, but lines from it ripple through me all the time, particularly the line about finding yourself, and finding yourself whole. Hard to say, harder still to do - but worth working towards!
Amazing. Simply amazing.
Oh my wow
That was SO BEAUTIFUL!!! really well written brought a tear to my eye.
She is truly amazing 🥲
So even though he left me
He left
And it hurt
What is not sunny about today
Even the rain clouds will bless me
So what if he doesn’t appreciate me 🖤
Me emociona sempre...
I cry every single time I listen to this. You're beautiful!
I nearly cried omg this is beautiful
This was so beautiful!
We have the same name and share the same love for poetry but the difference is I’m terrible and this is absolutely amazing 😂
Beautiful
Loved her performance... But I'm avtually not that good in English, and can't understand everything... Sadly :/ oh I get her message, wow
So powerful !! ♡♡
Powerful, Love it
Who in the heck gave this READ a THUMBS DOWN??! 👈👈💯
Girl, you have conquered everything!
💜💜
Still a fav !👏🏾
❣
Jesus thank you
Transcript? Pls
Dammmmmmn... Youll Alyssa needs to Ted Talk... Wheraaa they
🫶
"I'm proud of my thighs who unlike the red sea never parted for a man posing as God." This line is so wrong and extremely disrespectful and offensive.
I think its beautiful