Nautilus II, Volume 18, Spring 2020, Poetry and Art by Young Mothers Studying at The Care Center

Poetry and Art by Young Mothers Studying at The Care Center

Nautilus II VOLUME 18, SPRING 2020

Nautilus II Poetry and Art by Young Mothers Studying at The Care Center

Volume 18, 2020

Nautilus II Volume 18, 2020

Student Editorial Board Ashlee Collins Mariangelic Felix Jennieliz Lopez Torres Genesis Medina Tania Rolon Aleayah Smith Shakira Torres Sylvia Torres Adamari Valentin

Nautilus II was named in honor of Elizabeth Towne, 1865–1960, publisher of Nautilus magazine, a journal of New Thought, which was produced in the building now known as The Care Center.

Staff Editors Tara Bernier, Managing Editor Julie Lichtenberg, Art Editor Marjory Zaik, Contributing Poetry Editor Ana Rodriguez, Contributing Poetry Editor Design and Production Craig Malone Cover Art Kelsey Lopez Š 2020 Nautilus II No portion of Nautilus II may be reproduced without permission.

ISSN 1938-5994

A Note to Our Readers A t T h e C a re C enter , writing and making art are important parts of our growth and learning. As we take the time to tell our stories and share our feelings and perspectives, we come to understand ourselves better.

Sometimes the stories we tell are painful, other times joyful. Sometimes, we are surprised by what emerges when we express ourselves. We learn that we are more powerful than we may have thought we were. Always, we recognize that our creative work is valid, honest, and real.

As editors of Nautilus II, we read and appreciate our classmates’ poems and artwork. In the process, we identify with other young mothers’ experiences while learning from those whose stories and points of view may differ from ours. The stories we and our classmates tell do not only have an impact on us, however. By sharing them in Nautilus II, we tell the world who we are and what it is like to be a young mother. Also, by sharing them, we have the precious opportunity to inspire and encourage our readers.

Our readers will learn that young mothers are smart, strong, capable, hopeful, and powerful. We are thoughtful, loving, straightforward, brave, and open-minded. We study, write poems and stories, make art, take photographs — all while caring for ourselves and our children. We are proud of ourselves, and we admire each other.

The work that we have chosen for this edition of Nautilus II reflects all of that about us, and more. We hope that the words and images in this volume not only inspire understanding in our readers, but also encourage them to write their own poems and make their own art.

Sincerely, The Student Editors Spring 2020 Volume 18

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Kelsey Lopez

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Acknowledgments E ach y ea r th e c reation of Nautilus II represents a team effort. We would like to thank everyone at The Care Center, the school’s students, staff, and well-wishers for their support. In particular, we thank Anne Teschner, Executive Director, for her kindness and her belief in us, and Jane Slater, Director of Donor Relations, for making sure that Nautilus II and other projects are possible. We thank Education Director, Ana Rodriguez and our teachers Tara Bernier, Julie Lichtenberg, Hayley Murphy, Caroline Stewart, and Marjory Zaik, for pushing us and not letting us quit.

We thank Jenna Sellers and the counseling staff, Carmen Vicenty and Shanealia Jernigan, for listening to our problems and helping us; setting goals to problem solve and enhance our lives and the lives of our children.

We thank Emily Laufer, for making sure we go to college and have a great future; and Jude Kallok, for helping us develop our computer skills.

We are grateful to Aida Diaz and the caring professional daycare staff; without them, we could not be in school. We thank the drivers, who bring us back and forth, and Martha Spiro, Nurse Practitioner who takes care of our health and the health of our children.

We would also like to thank all the students who offered artwork and poetry for our consideration.

Outside of The Care Center, we would also like to thank Hampshire College for their collaboration with us as we learn the art of photography, and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, for their partnership with the Radius Project (our audio storytelling program), for helping us find our voices.

Thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s YouthReach Program, Wil Hastings, and the Department of Public Health for funding our poetry program.

Craig Malone: thank you for your patience and your good work! We learn from you, and the journal would not happen without your help.

Finally, we would like to thank our families, especially our children, who are our motivation. They inspire us to move forward and make us stronger.

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Contents G R O U P P O E M S F R O M I S O L A T I O N

3

No One Ever Told Me 4 Tomorrow I Want To 5 P O E M S 7

Jaidelice Arroyo, I Am Jaidelice 7 Ashlee Collins, The Best Things 8 Ashlee Collins, Strength 9 Ashlee Collins, Letter to My Head 10 Ashlee Collins, What Kind of Mom? 11 Marilise Espinosa, Where I’m From 12 Mariangelic Felix, March 17th 13 Mariangelic Felix, Finding My Way 14 Mariangelic Felix, Rise 16 Mariangelic Felix, Beauty and The Beast 18 Zaidajuly Martinez, Free Flying Bird 20 Kayliannie Mata, Dear Little Kayli 21 Kathie Lee Reyes, I Am 22 Kathie Lee Reyes, Someday 23 Dalishalee Rivera, The Strong One 24 Janellis Rivera, Ode to My Fridge 25 Yariely Rodriguez, What I Want to Hear 26 Yarielee Santiago, Broken Glass 27 Erica Santos, Enigma 28 Aleayah Smith, 12 ways you know if you have a boy and not a man 29 Shakira Torres, My Favorite Color 30 Shakira Torres, Music 31 Shakira Torres, Our Exes Hurt Us into Hurting 32 Sylvia Torres, I Miss You Like 33 VISITING AUTHORS

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P H O T O G R A P H Y 4 8

Shakira Torres 48 Jaidelice Arroyo 49 Tanaya Jackson 49 Mariangelic Felix 50 Jennieliz Lopez Torres 51

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Odalys Colon 52 Jaidelice Arroyo 52 Shakira Torres 53 Jennieliz Lopez 54 Coralis,o Rosario 54 Ashley Duperault 55 Kathie Reyes 55 T H E C A R E C E N T E R A F I E L D

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STUDIO ART

Kelsey Lopez IV Neveah DelHoyo 2 Tanaya Jackson 34 Ashley Duperault 67 Coralis Rosario 68, 69 Genesis Medina 70, 71 Nicole Vazquez 72 Serenity Rosero 73 Mariester Rivera 74 Ashley Duperault 75 Tania Rolon 76 Yariely Rodriguez 77 Neveah DelHoyo 78 Mariester Rivera 79 M A S K S A N D A R C H E T Y P E S 82

Ashley Duperault 87 Genessis Sanchez 88 Tanaya Jackson 89 D R A W I N G 90

Genesis Medina 91 Tania Rolon 91 Aliselle Sanchez 91 Hanah Williams 92 Kathiria Guzman 92 P O T T E R Y 9 6 J E W E L R Y 9 8 Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / VII

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POEMS

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Neveah DelHoyo

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Group Poems from Isolation During our time at home in isolation because of the Covid-19 Pandemic, students, teachers, and counselors have met regularly via video conferencing. Led by our art teacher, Julie Lichtenberg, we all worked together to write the following group poems.

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G R O U P P O E M S F R O M I S O L AT I O N

No One Ever Told Me No one ever told me How hard it really is to have an infant Or that having a child, you could end up single, without a father No one ever told me That my second child would be a terrorist And no one ever told me how much I was going to love my kids No one ever told me That I could be happy and content without a partner That I would enjoy drawing as much as I enjoy painting No one ever told me I was going to get so attached to my pets That I would become a plant lady No one ever told me That I would break every sewing machine I would ever touch No one ever told me There could still be pandemics that could shut down the world And no one ever told me that I would live through a pandemic and stay strong No one ever told me that being home all the time could make your life feel so drained No one ever told me That I could accomplish things independently That I could be my own kind of beautiful No one ever told me That I could reinvent my life

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G R O U P P O E M S F R O M I S O L AT I O N

Tomorrow I Want To Tomorrow I want get my LED lights in the mail I want to do my laundry My nails And my eyebrows Tomorrow I want to do more landscaping I want to care about doing all the things that I’ve been procrastinating on Tomorrow I want to be happy Start a new book Be creative and paint some stones Cook pasta with chicken alfredo Bake a cherry pie Tomorrow I want to eat some of Hayley’s quesadillas Tomorrow I want to remember what it was like to be ten years old Uplift my friends by sending cards in the mail Scream and cry Say three nice things to myself Hold my niece And be more at peace

Students present for the writing of No One Ever Told Me: Katelyn Davila, Tania Rolon, Aleayah Smith, Jennieliz Lopez Torres.

Students present for the writing of Tomorrow I Want To: Jaidelice Arroyo, Ashlee Collins, Katelyn Davila, Mariangelic Felix, Tania Rolon, Aleayah Smith, Shakira Torres, Denise Trento.

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POEMS

Jaidelice Arroyo I Am Jaidelice I am a Mother I wonder if my baby can tell that I am not okay I hear her giggle fill the room I want to give her the world I am a mother I pretend that I am happy I feel my tears going down my cheeks I touch my face and wipe my tears I worry that I won’t have my life together I cry when I’m frustrated I am a mother.

I understand that not everything goes as planned I say “I got this” I dream about my life I hope everything gets better I am a Mother!

Jaidelice Arroyo is mother to one beautiful girl. Jaida is full of life, and looking forward to passing her HiSET when we resume classes in person.

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Ashlee Collins The Best Things The best things in life are my two boys.

They’re my everything and so much more.

They’re so innocent and gentle and so forgiving.

They’re full of so much love and laughter.

I would do anything for my babies.

The worst things are when I can’t do everything I want to.

The worst is when I just need a little help.

The worst is just trying to find myself again.

The best things are my kids. I needed them more than they needed me.

They are my best things in life.

Ashlee Collins is the mother of two boys whom she adores very much. Ashlee participated in the Greenfield Community College Humanities 108 course this spring, and is looking forward to finishing her HiSET.

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Ashlee Collins Strength My strength comes from the heart From within my soul to the core.

My strength is my two boys.

My strength is my will to fight for my family, To just keep going.

My strength is knowing giving up is not an option, even With tears in my eyes.

My strength is fighting to stay out of my head.

Most days I am stronger because I had to be for me and my boys.

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Ashlee Collins Letter to My Head Dear head, I’m so sorry, and I love you, but I hate not being able to make up my mind.

I’m always constantly fighting with my mind all day, every day, with just day to day stuff.

Even at night my mind is just always going: did I do what I needed to do today?

Or what will happen tomorrow?

Dear head, I love you, and I’m sorry, but just let me sleep.

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Ashlee Collins What Kind of Mom? I am a mom of two boys. I am a strong mom because I had to be.

I am a loving, caring and kind, understanding momma.

I’m a mom who gets up every day And refuses to quit.

I’m a mom who does what she has to.

I am a mom of two handsome boys, but I am so much more: I am a woman and a mom and just me.

I am a mom with two exceptionally beautiful boys.

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Marilise Espinosa Where I’m From I am Massachusetts, Which does define how I am, After moving to Florida young, I became a down south person, Orange trees and strawberry festivals, Hot summer days and beach trips, Ice cream and hot sweats, Hot was too much, Back to the cold I came Snowy days and more delays, Buses and trains, Definitely a big climate change Wet socks and soggy sneakers, There’s nothing like a Little change, Every day is a new day.

Marilise Espinosa is a graduate of The Care Center.

She passed her final HiSET test last fall, shortly before giving birth to her first child.

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Mariangelic Felix March 17th Who am I, you ask?

I am a lion who comes off as a lamb.

I am an ocean with waves big enough to drown.

I am a roller coaster of emotions.

I am a hater of ignorant people, liars, And people who use others for a gain.

I am a lost soul, a naive child.

I am one who has seen enough That would make most people’s skin crawl.

I am me, not you.

I am who I am.

Judging me is only a negative reflection on you.

So who am I, you ask?

I am me...just me

Mariangelic Felix is the proud mother of three wonderful girls. She participated in the spring Greenfield Community College Humanities 108 course, and is looking forward to passing her HiSET when we are all together again.

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Mariangelic Felix Finding My Way Somewhere along this path I lost my way.

In this game we called life, I forgot the rules.

Along this path I forgot me.

I lost my voice amongst the crowd.

Trying so hard to blend in, I soon stuck out like a red rose in the bushes of white.

I tried so hard to stand on my own two feet, yet forgot what I stood for and I stumbled and fell to my knees.

Along this path, my soul became hidden in this false world that I created.

I lost my way, no longer able to stand, forgot who I was, trying to blend in.

Shattered my life, forgot my dreams, my goals vanished and I tried to run away.

Unable to remember who I truly was, having to start from scratch, rebuilding myself back up and fighting for my memory, remembering what I stood for, hoping not to fall once again. Waking up every day looking for my voice that was lost amongst the crowds, my own self that followed the crowd, trying to blend in, when I stood out.

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Trying to be like them, talk like them and walk like them, look like them, act like them, see like them, be them, all along forgetting that I’m unique.

Tried so hard to be in the crowd, yet I stood out, lost my way along this path, now trying to find my way back, find my voice, stand on my own two feet, remember who I am.

So I can be me, talk like me and walk like me, act like me, look like me, see like me, just so I can be me, because along this path I lost my way, and now I gotta find my way back.

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Mariangelic Felix Rise I will rise After every fall.

I will rise And stand tall.

I will rise Over the wall.

I will rise Above them all.

Like the sun, Which never dies.

Though sets every night, Every day it does rise.

Like the ocean Whose tides Many times they are down, But invariably they rise.

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Like the trees, From seeds they arise, And heights great They rise and rise.

After falling once, Twice and thrice, Again and again I will rise and rise.

I will rise After every fall.

After every fall I will rise.

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Mariangelic Felix Beauty and The Beast She’s been told all her life how beautiful she is.

She starts to believe that that’s all she has to give And that nothing else matters.

She longs for the one that can see past the beauty.

Somewhere between beauty and the beast is the place she calls home.

All they see is her beauty and all she sees is the beast.

She once was married to the one she thought she loved, But his love was only real if she stayed weak.

So she closed the door wanting so badly to finally feel complete.

Somewhere between beauty and the beast is the place she calls home.

All they see is her beauty and all she sees is the beast.

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Someone see my beauty is from within It’s more than this shell you see.

Her soul is what’s her beauty I need to feel loved from the inside Someone please rescue me.

Somewhere between beauty and the beast is the place she calls home.

All they see is her beauty and all she sees is the beast.

When I look in the mirror I see this strong powerful beast who can handle everything.

But everyone else sees this sweet loving girl who is humble, to them I am weak, to my beast I am strong.

My beast is the opposite skin is shiny and soft his smile brightens up the room and his sweet loving heart makes everything and everyone feel better.

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Zaidajuly Martinez Free Flying Bird I am a free flying bird I wonder how to land I hear rushing rain, wind blowing I see branches, leaves, and a bright light with bright blue sky I want food for my hungry lil’ tummy I am a free flying bird.

I pretend to be happy I feel the tree underneath my feet I touch the leaves I worry about clean feathers I cry when I’m lonely I’m a free flying bird.

I’m not always right I say I believe I can fly I dream to be free I try to get far away I hope I can be free forever I am a free flying bird.

Zaidajuly Martinez began classwork just weeks before The Care Center closed in March, due to the pandemic. Mother of one son, she is looking forward to continuing her studies when classes resume.

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Kayliannie Mata Dear Little Kayli Dear little Kayli, Did you picture life being like this now?

Did you picture every other day there’s a homicide?

Kids losing their life over street signs that aren’t losing their spot for these kids?

Theses innocent bystanders losing their lives for absolutely nothing?

Where I can’t even walk the streets without any worries or scares?

Dear Kayli going through this, What can I do to put an end to this?

What can we do in our community our society to #PUTTHEGUNSDOWN AND #STOPTHEVIOLENCE The Kayli going through this, you trying your hardest, when every other day you’re receiving a phone call, One of my very good friends passed, and all I can ask God is why???

The summer is near and the streets are getting hit again, KEEP MY FRIENDS SAFE Dear Kayli, I would love answers, explanations and reason.

Signed to the streets, to Kayli Kayli signed to the streets Kayliannie Mata joined The Care Center while classes were being conducted online. She looks forward to meeting everyone in person when we return to class.

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Kathie Lee Reyes I Am I am strong and resilient.

I wonder who I one day will be I hear the reveille slowly creeping I see my future before me so close I can taste it.

I want nothing more than for it to come true I am strong and resilient I pretend nothing bothers me I feel like I have the world on my shoulders I touch the aluminum.

Kathie Lee Reyes is a proud mother. She loves boxing and poetry, and is hoping to join the Air Force.

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Kathie Lee Reyes Someday Someday I am going to accomplish all my dreams Someday I will be able to look back and say I did it Someday all my struggles will come to an end.

Someday I will be able to give my kids everything I couldn’t once before Someday they’ll know everything I am doing is for them Someday they’ll be proud of me like I’ll be proud of me someday Someday will be one day; one day soon.

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Dalishalee Rivera The Strong One I’m tired of having to be the strong one Tired of feeling alone with so many people around I’m tired of feeling motivated, but not achieving anything.

Tired of being doubtful of myself Tired of keeping quiet I’m tired of being tired

Dalishalee Rivera is the proud mother of two girls, and a recent Care Center gradudate. She participated in the Greenfield Community College Humanities 108 course and is looking forward to continuing her education in the future.

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Janellis Rivera Ode to My Fridge Oh, my beloved fridge How I love to open you up Seeing you filled with food I love.

After a long, stressful day you Always have open arms.

Thank you for everything.

Janellis Rivera has one son and is pursuing her HiSET. She was a member of The Care Center’s 2017 rowing team.

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Yariely Rodriguez What I Want to Hear What I want to hear in a love poem.

I want to hear what they felt when they first saw. I want to hear what they see in me when they first saw me.

I want to hear how much I’m appreciated by the person.

I want to hear about our future together.

I want to hear how much they miss me when we are far from each other.

I want to hear them say I love you over and over again.

Yariely Rodriguez is the mother of one daughter. She enjoys reading and writing. She participated in The Care Center’s landscape photography class last year.

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Yarielee Santiago Broken Glass 1. Tired of being worried about being enough tired of doing the loving and caring.

Just want to be taken care of want to matter make sure everything I do is noticed.

2. See me.

See me for who I am what I have to offer.

See me as a survivor of love Survivor of past time See me as a young mother girl lost with no mother.

Why can’t you see me?

Hello! Can you even hear me?

See me the mother of two the one who does everything alone.

See me as a young mother learning how to love.

See me for what I am worth.

See me crying as I wonder what I did that wasn’t enough.

See me See me as woman of her word See me with a degree See me as a change in the world See me as me – Yarielee Yarielee Santiago is a proud mother, a hard worker, and looks forward to making a difference in the future. She was proud to share her poetry in collaboration with a course at Holyoke Community College.

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Erica Santos Enigma I am an enigma.

They can never figure me out But when it’s found, that one that can figure me out, then we are bound to link as one sound

Erica Santos is the mother of a beautiful daughter, and looks forward to continuing to work on passing her HiSET when we return to classes.

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Aleayah Smith 12 ways you know if you have a boy and not a man 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

Boys don’t clean.

Boys don’t text or call in a reasonable time.

Boys don’t know how to be loyal.

Boys are not honest.

Boys don’t know how to keep a job.

Boys always want to argue.

Boys don’t give affection.

Boys don’t give respect.

Boys always want to stay in the house and play video games.

10. Boys say they’re done with their exes but are really not.

11. Boys say they’re ready to commit but aren’t ready.

12. Boys want to have kids but don’t know how to raise them.

Aleayah Smith is the proud mother of her son Jayden. She participated in the Bard College Clemente Course in the Humanities, and is looking forward to passing her HiSET as soon as we return to classes.

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Shakira Torres My Favorite Color My favorite color tastes like happiness, but life sometimes makes me worthless.

Now with what I’ve been through, it made me feel careless.

My life made me think about my old pages, but it’s time to make a few changes.

People talk about me like I’m famous, I let them because they’re just jealous.

Y’all just miserable so that’s your illness, my favorite color still tastes the same, just ‘cus I’m endless.

Shakira Torres is a proud mother and loves to rhyme. She is working towards passing her HiSET.

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Shakira Torres Music Music makes me dance everywhere I stand music makes me feel like wonderland.

Music makes me feel alive music is like a sex drive.

Music makes me feel better when I’m down music makes me feel like I’m out of town.

Music makes me follow the beat, music will make me dance, even if I’m on a seat.

Music makes me want to party music makes me want to rap like Cardi.

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Shakira Torres Our Exes Hurt Us into Hurting Our exes hurt us into hurting them, we drop them like a piece of crumb.

They start regretting what they’ve lost, but playing with someone’s feelings cost.

Now they’re blowing up your phone begging, You told them to leave you alone because you’re done stressing.

Now that you’re gone they want to give you all the attention, but playing with someone’s feelings breaks that connection.

Pain changes people, that’s why we stay single.

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Sylvia Torres I Miss You Like I miss you like a junkie misses their high I miss you like one bullet in the chamber with your name on it I miss you like these streets don’t have a say who stays or who goes I miss you like all these families losing someone who mattered to them I miss you like it’s the only breath you have left I miss you like all this blood squirting out of your wounds I miss you like why you not someone else I miss you like please come back I miss you like I just truly don’t understand I miss you like it’s a nightmare and I can’t wake up I miss you like a throbbing heart getting ripped out of my chest I miss you like

Sylvia Torres is a sister, daughter, partner, student and poet, but the role she is most proud of is being a mother to her daughter, nearly 4, and her baby son, due in June 2020.

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Tanaya Jackson

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F R O N T M AT T E R

VISITING AUTHORS Cheryl Boyce-Taylor Gabriel Bump Duy Doan Martín Espada Carmen Maria Machado Porsha Olayiwola

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V I S I T I N G AU T H O R S

Cheryl Boyce-Taylor Cheryl Boyce-Taylor is a poet and workshop facilitator, born in Trinidad and raised in Queens, New York.

A recipient of the 2015 Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Award and a VONA fellow, she is the founder and curator of Calypso Muse and the Glitter Pomegranate Performance Series. Boyce-Taylor earned her MFA in creative writing from Stonecoast: The University of Southern Maine. She is the author of four collections of poetry: Raw Air (Fly By Night, 1997); Night When Moon Follows (Long Shot, 2000); Convincing the Body (Vintage Entity, 2005); and Arrival (Triquarterly/Northwestern University Press, 2017). Her work has been published in Black Lesbians—We Are the Revolution, Killens Review of Arts and Letters, Encyclopedia, Pluck!, Adrienne, Poetry, and Prairie Schooner.

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C H E R Y L B OYC E - TAY LO R

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V I S I T I N G AU T H O R S

Gabriel Bump Gabriel Bump grew up in South Shore, Chicago. His nonfiction and fiction have appeared in Slam magazine, the Huffington Post, Springhouse Journal and other publications. He was awarded the 2016 Deborah Slosberg Memorial Award for Fiction. He received his MFA in fiction from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He lives in Buffalo, New York. Bump’s Everywhere You Don’t Belong was published in February 2020

by Algonquin Press.

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GABRIEL BUMP

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V I S I T I N G AU T H O R S

Duy Doan Duy Doan is the author of We Play a Game, winner of the 2017 Yale Series of Younger Poets. His work has appeared in Poetry, Slate, The Cortland Review, and elsewhere. A Kundiman fellow, he received an MFA in poetry from Boston University, where he serves as director of the Favorite Poem Project.

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DUY DOAN

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V I S I T I N G AU T H O R S

Martín Espada Martín Espada was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1957.

He has published almost twenty books as a poet, editor, essayist, and translator. His latest collection of poems from Norton is called Vivas to Those Who Have Failed (2016). Other books of poems include The Trouble Ball (2011), The Republic of Poetry (2006), Alabanza (2003), A Mayan Astronomer in Hell’s Kitchen (2000), Imagine the Angels of Bread (1996), City of Coughing and Dead Radiators (1993), and Rebellion is the Circle of a Lover’s Hands (1990). His many honors include the 2018 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Creeley Award, the National Hispanic Cultural Center Literary Award, an American Book Award, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, the PEN/Revson Fellowship, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. The Republic of Poetry was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. A former tenant lawyer in Greater Boston’s Latino community, Espada is a professor of English at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

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M A R T Í N E S PA D A

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V I S I T I N G AU T H O R S

Carmen Maria Machado Carmen Maria Machado is the author of the memoir In the Dream House and the short story collection Her Body and Other Parties. She has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the winner of the Bard Fiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction, the Brooklyn Public Library Literature Prize, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the National Book Critics Circle’s John Leonard Prize.

In 2018, the New York Times listed Her Body and Other Parties as a member of “The New Vanguard,” one of “15 remarkable books by women that are shaping the way we read and write fiction in the 21st century.”

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CARMEN MARIA MACHADO

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V I S I T I N G AU T H O R S

Porsha Olayiwola Black, futurist, poet, dyke, hip-hop feminist, womanist: Olayiwola is a native of Chicago who now resides in Boston. Olayiwola is a writer, performer, educator and curator who uses afro-futurism and surrealism to examine historical and current issues in the Black, woman, and queer diasporas. She is an Individual World Poetry Slam Champion and the artistic director at MassLEAP, a literary youth organization. Olayiwola is an MFA candidate at Emerson College. Porsha Olayiwola is the author of i shimmer sometimes, too (Button Poetry), and is the current poet laureate for the city of Boston.

Adamari Valentin reads a poem she wrote during Olayiwola‘s reading and workshop.

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P O R S H A O L AY I W O L A

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F R O N T M AT T E R

A Lens on the World: Care Center Photography at Hampshire College This year, Care Center students

took their work in our longstanding collaboration with Hampshire College in new directions. Working closely with mentor students and faculty, participants got a chance to consider image and selfrepresentation in the age of the internet, learned Photoshop and traditional camera mechanics, and to think through big questions while also practicing framing, snapping, and developing pictures. The work they make shows the viewer some of the ways in which these young artists see the world, and some of the questions they ask of it.

PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS

Jaidelice Arroyo Odalys Colon Ashlee Collins Jennifer Cortez Katelyn Davila Ashley Duperault Mariangelic Felix Tanaya Jackson Jennieliz Lopez Genesis Medina GenĂŠsis Pimentel Kathie Reyes Tania Rolon Coralis Rosario Aliselle Sanchez Erica Santos Aleayah Smith

TOP PHOTO BY

Shakira Torres

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Shakira Torres

Photography

PHOTO BY

Jaidelice Arroyo

Tanaya Jackson

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PHOTOS BY

Mariangelic Felix

50 /Â Nautilus II

PHOTOS BY Jennieliz

Lopez Torres

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PHOTO BY

Odalys Colon

PHOTO BY

Jaidelice Arroyo

52 /Â Nautilus II

PHOTOS BY

Shakira Torres

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PHOTO BY

Jennieliz Lopez

PHOTO BY

Coralis Rosario

54 /Â Nautilus II

PHOTO BY

Ashley Duperault

PHOTO BY

Kathie Reyes

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 55

56 /Â Nautilus II

The Care Center Afield E ach

y ear ,

T h e C are C enter finds time in its jam-

packed schedule for trips to exciting locations around the region. This year, we traveled to the Connecticut Science Center, Worcester Museum of Art, Art in the Orchard at Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton, the Smith College Art Museum, and we even made it to the beach! Besides a great moment to relax, these trips tie into the academic work we are doing, and provide opportunities for students to write and make art in new spaces.

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 57

FIELD TRIPS

Fimbel Maker and Innovation Lab, Mount Holyoke College

58 /Â Nautilus II

FIELD TRIPS

Art in the Orchard at Park Hill Orchard, Easthamptom

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FIELD TRIPS

Worcester Art Museum

60 /Â Nautilus II

FIELD TRIPS

Mount Tom Ice Cream, Easthampton

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62 /Â Nautilus II

STUDIO ART Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 63

Tania Rolon and Ashley Duperault

64 /Â Nautilus II

Kassandra Maldonado and Triniti Kamrowski-Singleton

Nicole Vazquez

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Silk scarf painting workshop

66 /Â Nautilus II

Ashley Duperault

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Coralis Rosario

68 /Â Nautilus II

Coralis Rosario

Coralis Rosario

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Genesis Medina

70 /Â Nautilus II

Genesis Medina

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Nicole Vazquez

72 /Â Nautilus II

Serenity Rosero

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Mariester Rivera

74 /Â Nautilus II

Ashley Duperault

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Tania Rolon

76 /Â Nautilus II

Yariely Rodriguez

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Neveah DelHoyo

78 /Â Nautilus II

Mariester Rivera

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 79

80 /Â Nautilus II

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 81

82 /Â Nautilus II

MASKS AND ARCHETYPES S tud ents

were invited

to think about traditional archetypes and choose one or two to explore for their masks.

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MASKS AND ARCHETYPES

Students created these designs before they began painting.

84 /Â Nautilus II

MASKS AND ARCHETYPES

Mother Warrior Trickster Thief Goddess Lover Protector Temptress Mother Earth Death Magician Nurturer Midwife Healer Revolutionary Teacher Mentor Wise Woman Dreamer Artist

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MASKS AND ARCHETYPES

Kassandra Maldonado

Nicole Vazquez and Ciana Cabrera

86 /Â Nautilus II

MASKS AND ARCHETYPES

Ashley Duperault

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MASKS AND ARCHETYPES

Genessis Sanchez

88 /Â Nautilus II

MASKS AND ARCHETYPES

Tanaya Jackson

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Drawing

90 /Â Nautilus II

Genesis Medina figure gesture drawing

Tania Rolon

Aliselle Sanchez Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 91

Hanah Williams figure gesture drawing

Kathiria Guzman drawing 92 /Â Nautilus II

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 93

94 /Â Nautilus II

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 95

Pottery

96 /Â Nautilus II

Volume 18 • Spring 2020 / 97

Jewelry

98 /Â Nautilus II

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VOLUME 18

SPRING 2020

“Charting the fluctuating self, the poems in Nautilus II reveal who we can be from day-to-day. Women brimming with attitude, women birthing new loves who will love them back, women stepping into futures shaped by their own imaginations and sheer will. And women showcasing the softness of the human heart. Welcome to the poems in Nautilus II!” Ivelisse Rodriguez, author of Love War Stories

“The Poets of The Care Center are fierce, determined, and intelligent young women who have a lot of important things to say. I urge you to read their poetry; doing so will enrich your life. It certainly enriched mine.”

Leslea Newman, Poet Laureate, 2008-2010

“The writing in Nautilus II is such an extraordinary balm — tender, vulnerable, and ferocious all at once. I love these stories and poems with my whole entire heart.”

Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties

“The poems in this issue are full of urgency and emotion. They sing with truth and power. The voices behind them, in conversation with literary greats like Lucille Clifton, Lydia Davis, George Ella Lyon, and Marie Howe, tell the kinds of stories — intelligent and compelling, by young women, in conversation with women — we most need to hear in America today.”

Cassie Pruyn, author of Lena

www.carecenterholyoke.org

Since 1986 The Care Center has worked with thousands of teens creating environments where they can succeed in a city where success eludes many young people. We strive to create in teens a sense of ownership of their education and future, as well as a sense of hope and possibility. We provide young people handson experiences and the tools of success that can make dreams real.

247 Cabot Street Holyoke, MA 01040 (413) 532-2900 ISSN 1938-5994 $10.00