I am maria!

Tag: feminine

  • Past her Prime

    Past her Prime

    They say I’m a woman”

    past her prime”who’s

    “run out of time”

    but,

    I have the ability to see the me,

    who was 20. . .

    Trapped in the loop of being the good girl,

    no mistakes allowed, trying hard,

    to make mama proud …

    then at 30. . . 

    It was the same.

    Playing that game, but now, I’m a mother,

    with another,

    other. . .

    Then came 40, still selflessly giving,

    then came 50, the reckoning. . .

    the veil lifted,

    clarity gifted,

    wont’t play the game,

    won’t be tame,

    won’t tone down,

    not going to stop,

    telling my story,

    even when they say,

    “you’ve had your day”

    “you look bad!”

    Oh, it just makes me mad!

    How dare they say,

    I’ve had my day!

    I’m not finished yet,

    I’ve earned the right, don’t you forget!

    They say, “she’s passed her prime”

    “run out of time”

    But honey, I’m only just getting started. 


    Look at me! 

    Look carefully!

    Take a picture if it helps you see!

    This is my time I’m moving into the light, 

    because it wasn’t right,

    what went on before,

    it’s time to open that other door,

    emerge from


    being told,

    “you’re too old”

    it’s “time to fade”

    They say I’m past my prime.

    But they’re wrong,

    It’s my time.

    I see the mirror,

    my reflection.

    It’s time now to reveal. . .

    The real

    The true

    The one and only. . .

    You.

    A warm invitation to learn more about I am Maria!

    What is I am Maria!

  • I look in the mirror

    I look in the mirror and what do I see, a woman? A girl?

    Waiting to be free….of all that they told her she had to be…

    Of the connotatations,

    the assumptions, the bringing down,

    of her pretending to be the clown,

    not feeling enough,

    not being tough,

    not moving forward,

    but staying stuck,

    in the muck of the past

    unknowingly…contributing tomaking it last,

    I look in the mirror and all I can seeis a woman a girl,

    waiting to go free!

    This video marks a new beginning for a poem originally written for I am Maria!. It now emerges as a moment of transformation and transfiguration of voice and artistic self, unfolding within a new paradigm.

    This work is not a standalone piece, but an evolving fragment that will form part of the live immersive performance I am Maria: Bloom.

    Visual material by Valeria Pazos (PhD candidate, Mexico), whose imagery forms part of this evolving collaboration.

    See more of Valeria’s work @valeria_pazosf

    See more of my sonic experiments

    Sonic Experiments

  • Lonely Star

    Lonely Star emerges as a poetic reflection on the hidden self, exploring the tension between outward performance and inner truth. Written as part of the I am Maria! creative research project, the poem gives voice to the quiet, often unseen emotional landscape carried beneath the surface. Through rhythm and repetition, it reveals the experience of isolation, self-concealment, and the longing to be fully seen and heard.

    Lonely Star

    The ups and downs,

    the lows the things that nobody knows

    the face they never see

    hidden behind the curtain, 

    they’re blind,

    I hide

    behind a pose

    behind my prose

    behind the mask of

    my smile

    my style,

    my swag,

    and It presses heavily on my heart,

    it’s become an art,

    hiding that part, 

    the something I carry

    like a pack on my back

    24/7

    no escape – no heaven

    no relief underneath,

    but they will never know

    that it’s all just a show

    and in it’s the real me,

    the lonely star,

    who only I see.

    Lonely Star is a reflective poem and part of the creative research project I am Maria!

    This poem extends into a lyrical vocal expression, where the internal voice emerges through rhythm, spoken word, and sound.

  • On the Verge

    On the Verge

    Her lips tremble

    and she feels the pain

    of what she held in

    not giving way.

    Let the words spill 

    out into the light of day!

    Like a landslide 

    they will no longer be contained

    things she kept in like bad medicine 

    like a cough spill 

    out of her lips

    coming out

    giving a sense of bliss 

    of lightness and 

    feeling less

    wrong.

    Keep talking beauty

    keeping silent was never your duty. 

    It was a ban mostly imposed by a man.

    Now you can bloom,

    your lips no longer tremble,

    not a quiver,

    as the words roll out of you

    like a river,

    limpid clear and true,

    there was never anything wrong with you.

    This poem is part of the broader creative research journey I am Maria! where voice, identity, and feminine narratives are explored through poetry, song, and immersive performance. Emerging from the final stanza of On the Verge, Bloom is an electronic vocal work that traces a moment of rupture and release, where the voice moves beyond containment toward expression, transformation, a return to origin, and self-acceptance.

    Explore more creative reflections from the I am Maria! project HERE

  • Femminista – How does it make you feel?

    There’s always an uncomfortable feeling in the air 

    when she’s there flicking her hair without a care.

    They wait in silence  to see if she’ll dare

    to say something else to make them aware of 

    their limited vision learnt through television,

    And what they thought a woman should be.

    How dare she see through their

    manipulative business!

    How dare she call them out with no finesse!

    Doesn’t she know?

    Feminists not allowed in this crowd, it’s a dirty word,

    haven’t you heard?

    A woman who dares,

    A woman who stares straight at you,

    she’s called your bluff!

    Your small minded thinking, she’s got the flush and she’s had enough!

    Full house! 

    Too bad for you  she won’t stay silent,

    even when your violent

    with your words

    she rises above it and tells you to shove it!

    FEMINIST!

    Discover more artistic work here