SWWIM sustains and celebrates women poets by connecting creatives across generations and by curating a living archive of contemporary poetry, while solidifying Miami as a nexus for the literary arts.

It Wasn’t Until I Knew the Weight of My Own Skin That Black Became My Protector by Michelle Dodd

Black be the heaviest bond,

that will never leave you stranded.

 

Black be the sharpened knife when you

are cornered, with politics and slick mouths.

 

Black be the warmth of the sun,

when the world wants you to freeze.

 

Black be more than pride.

 

Black be the comfort of a womb.

 

Black be what newborns see before

they open their eyes.

 

Even stars lay on a blanket of black space.

What else could cover the universe with love, like black does?


Michelle Dodd is a poet from Richmond, Virginia. She performed for TedxWomenRVA in 2016. She is a fellow of The Watering Hole. She was a member of The Writer’s Den Slam Team in 2016 and 2017, placing among top teams in the USA. She has been published in Whurk Magazine and Wusgood online magazine. She self-published two chapbooks in 2017. She is one of the coaches of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) slam team.

Housewife as Rumpelstiltskin by Sara Moore Wagner

Hospitality by Sarah McCann