Pockets of Joy

She Wins Society, 2023

Last year, members of She Wins Society were surprised with awards in the mail honoring their contribution to the community. Imagine my excitement about getting Most Poetic Sister. Scrolling through pictures on my phone, this one stuck out as we prepare for our Conference and Awards Ceremony on November 9th!

It also revealed to me the role that photographs and images play in our joy.

Images are not only suitable for memories; they are silent whispers of time, capturing fleeting moments of joy and weaving stories without words. Pictures are pockets of bliss that freeze laughter and emotions we can experience whenever we look back at them. 

Sometimes, when I want to experience joy in a difficult moment, I look at snapshots of a happier time. Each frame holds a fragment of elation, and in their stillness, they evoke the essence of joyful energy. 

Remember, we are accepting submissions for this year’s poetry contest on Joy from now through December 1st! Get started by subscribing at yecheilyahsannualpoetrycontest.org.

Click Here For the Entry Rules and Guidelines

If you would like to support our poets with a donation, you may do so by clicking on the website’s donation page here.

Hope to see you soon!

Yecheilyah’s 1st Annual Poetry Contest Winners, 2017

Yecheilyah’s 2nd Annual Poetry Contest Winners, 2018

Yecheilyah’s 3rd Annual Poetry Contest Winners, 2019

Yecheilyah’s 4th Annual Poetry Contest Winners, 2021

Yecheilyah’s 5th Annual Poetry Contest Winners, 2022

Yecheilyah’s 6th Annual Poetry Contest Winners, 2023

Photography

My beautiful sister Pamela
My beautiful sister Pamela, Photo by EC

Honestly, I can’t teach your ways to anyone, nor do I know much about you. I don’t talk about you a lot either, or cough up revelations about how I came to enjoy the way your eyes capture and then freeze our lives. I do remember however our first real encounter. It was the 11th grade. Mrs. Luno coupled us for the school yearbook, and we walked the hallways of Harper High School like we had been together for years. You wrapped your arms around my neck and let my pupils kiss your face. Together we recorded, froze, and transformed time into memory. We followed Jesse Jackson and Arnie Duncan through interviews and meetings. You even let me choose what to see and hold you in my arms during assemblies, plays, and basketball games. Letting me control the way your body felt in my hands, and in seconds we created images both tangible and symbolic; both real and fantasy. It was the first time I came to appreciate this kind of relationship with technology. We had so much in common: Your shutter and my pupil, your film and my retina, and our capacity to record the past; your memory card, and my brain. I still don’t completely understand you, but goodness, don’t I love holding the camera!