Taking it backโ€ฆ.

The archives remember kings
because kings built the archives

our names survived in fragments
stitched into the hems of uniforms
pressed into recipe books
buried inside letters no historian thought to unfold carefully

they called us muses
wives
witches
madwomen
assistants

anything but architects

for centuries they edited us down
cut us from photographs
quoted our work without saying our names
turned our bodies into evidence
our anger into diagnosis
our exhaustion into character flaws

they built entire institutions
out of the belief
that we would stay grateful for the corners

but something is changing now

you can feel it in the classrooms
in the courtrooms
in group chats that turn into movements before dawn
in daughters who no longer apologise before speaking
in women comparing notes
and suddenly realising the pain was never personal

we are recovering each other
like lost cities beneath water

there is fury in it
but also tenderness

the kind born when someone says
I thought I was alone in this

and another voice answers
you were never alone
they just worked very hard to keep us separate

now the old language is cracking

the words that kept us small
hysterical
difficult
too emotional
too ambitious
too loud

they no longer fit properly

we are outgrowing them

there are women alive right now
learning to take up space without apology
without shrinking their brilliance
without softening their edges into something more acceptable

women rebuilding themselves from the historical record outward

women who understand that survival was never the final goal

we did not endure centuries merely to remain decorative

we are returning to ourselves

not quietly
not perfectly
not all at once

but together

and that changes everything

JH

#politics #poetry #women #vote #kings #queens #archives #muses #stolenNames #voices #female
Visiting my muses once in a while ๐ŸŒ™๐Ÿ‚๐ŸŒฟ

#nature #pagan #forest #paganism #artist #selfie #metalhead #metal #goth #longhair #muses #woods #dark

Another piece by Maine artist #SusanBickford -- "Nut's Garment: What do we Carry?". 2024-25. Silk, hand #embroidery, silver thread. 3 feet 9 inches wide by 3 feet by 9 inches long. Part of the "Of Sybils and Source" exhibit in #PortlandME.

Artist statement: "Constellations located at significant astrological aspects of Summer Solstice chart 2024 embroidered into a hand sewn Kaftan. Embroidered while traveling in Italy, France, Greece, and finished upon returning home in #Maine."

#FirstFridayArtWalk #FiberArts #MaineArtists #EgyptianMythology #Muses #GoddessNut #NightSkies #Art

I visited an exhibition yesterday at the #CreweCenter at #USM in #PortlandME yesterday. The theme is "Of Sibyls and Source: Ranges and Ruptures" showing through March 31, 2026. The first piece that caught my eye was "Invoking the Muses" by artist and teacher #SusanBickford. "These dresses are meant to invoke and honor these ancient Goddesses, indeed to welcome them into this temple, remembering their essential role in creative inspiration. Position in relationship to the architecture and an extension of the sky, sunlight, moonlight, and the wind, and made as an offering, each stitch a prayer for the future, and the artists receiving their blessing."

#Muses #NineMuses #Inspiration #FirstFridayArtWalk

"I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" is a song written by composer #AlanMenken and lyricist #DavidZippel for #Disney's animated film #Hercules (1997). Released on May 27, 1997 as part of the film's #soundtrack, the song was recorded by American actress and singer #SusanEgan in her role as #Meg, Hercules' love interest, while singers Cheryl Freeman, #LilliasWhite, #VaneeseThomas, #LaChanze, and #RozRyan provided #backgroundVocals as the #Muses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrs7iAPp8Ug
I Won't Say (I'm in Love) [From ''Disney's Hercules'']

YouTube
Imagine if we had data? Lol #IKR @[email protected] #Muses