Raise Your Voices – a Sisterhood Poem

By: JANA GREENE

if you have been a nice girl all your life…

towing the line of society’s expectations,

putting others’ needs first,

and people-pleasing to the inth degree…

This internet stranger wants to remind you:

You’re allowed to raise your voice

above a peep.

You are allowed to be a megaphone

for those who don’t have a voice at all.

You are allowed to question authority,

expect revolt, and welcome liberation.

You are allowed to use

your feminine energy

copiously and without apology,

in the healing yourself and others.

You are allowed to listen inwardly,

and trust your own intuition,

because you are literally divine.

You are allowed to snap off

a generational curse

like a dead twig on a magnificent Oak,

perfect kindling the fire of revolution

inside you.

You are allowed to be wild and free

with your good intentions.

To choose love,

to howl at the moon

or dance without shame,

to treat yourself with respect and honor.

You are allowed to accept your body

as a holy temple,

in whatever state of magnificence

you find it.

Its dimpled thighs and ample belly,

hands like our grandmother’s now,

wrinkled by time

and caring for others.

Your temple,

it’s a home for your soul after all.

You are allowed to ask what the hell happened

to this haphazard and wounded world,

and to start revolution

with the voice you raise over a peep.

And until you can give yourself permission

to howl, and dance,

and radically accept yourself,

and link arms with your sisterhood, girl.

Allow yourself the respect

that you grant others,

the vibrations of your love

rippling out in a broken world,

and returning to you.

Now go rock the boat, sister,

because you matter,

and you’re allowed to bask

in the knowing

that you have worth.

October 6, 2025 0

Dear Nice Girls, You are Allowed…

Where I grew up, the word “feminism” was anathema. Now I am proud to be a feminist.

By: JANA GREENE

If you have been a nice girl all your life,

towing the line

of society’s expectations,

putting others’ needs first,

afraid to rock the boat,

people-pleasing to the inth degree…

This internet stranger

wants to remind you:

You’re allowed

to raise your voice above a peep.

You are allowed

to be a megaphone

for those who don’t have a voice at all.

You are allowed

to question authority,

expect revolt,

and welcome liberation.

You are allowed

to use your feminine energy

without apology

in the healing of yourself and others.

You are allowed

to listen inwardly,

and trust your own intuition.

You are allowed

to snap off a generational curse

like a dead twig on a dying tree,

perfect kindling for the fire

of your former meekness.

You are allowed

to be wild and free

with your good intentions,

let them be plenty.

You are allowed

to howl at the moon and dance,

or fall to your knees and pray,

or both.

You are allowed

to treat yourself with respect and honor.

You are allowed

to accept your body

as a holy temple,

in whatever state of magnificence its in,

it’s dimpled thighs and ample belly,

a home for your soul, after all.

You are allowed

to ask what the hell happened,

and to start revolution

with the voice you now

raise over a peep.

And until you can give yourself permission

to howl, and dance,

and radically accept yourself,

link arms with the sisterhood, girl.

Let renaissance begin where life begins –

in our bellies.

Now go rock the boat,

understanding that feminism

is more than a catch phrase,

more than a buzzword,

more than political jargon.

It is the realization

of your power.

May 23, 2025 0

The Sisterhood of the Hornet’s Nest

By: JANA GREENE

Who else wakes up and for a few precious seconds, thinks you must have had the most terrible nightmare, only to realize no, it’s not a horrible dream. It’s happening. And you simply cannot believe with your own brain cells that it’s actually happening, but here we are? I am using every tool in my mental health coping skills. I’m digging through my rusty 12 step recovery toolbox, flinging tools hither and yon, saying no, THAT won’t fix this….dammit this won’t either! Tools flying everywhere, all of them sort of useless but also not. It feels like needing a certain screwdriver but not having it and needing a hammer and not having that either. So, you just use the handle of the wrong screwdriver to hammer that nail in the wall to hang a picture, which isn’t even what you set out to do, but oh well! It’s a tool that did a job! It’s like that.
If you got anxiety problems, I feel bad for you, son. We got 99 problems and the president-elect is definitely one.
I don’t know what to do with my mind, my face, my hands. I am either doom-scrolling whilst sobbing or disassociating with cat videos – tinny laughter hanging in the air like an insult to The Cause. Disassociating with dumb TikToks of people dancing. Comedian schtick. But it’s the only way, Obi Wan. I’m throwing everything at this – faith, videos of kittens, the seeking out of comraderie with my fellow sisters. Absolute outrage. Profound sadness. Lather, rinse, repeat. Then faith again, which I always seem to land on, which pisses me off, really. How dare I have hope at a time like this? The nerve of me!
But I cannot fathom that this waking nightmare has no purpose. Maybe it’s the catalyst for the groundswell that needs to happen. It needs to happen. But did it have to happen this way? See, that’s what I don’t understand. But maybe it’s bigger than our lil’ supposedly puny girl-minds can fathom.
Maybe it’s too big for us to understand just yet.
And If you’re reading these brain droppings here on my blog, you are probably in an unfathomable place too. If you follow me for recovery content, or homespun stories of faith, or because I am a proponent for plant medicine, or write about mental health (or lack thereof.) We may never get back to our regularly scheduled programming. This has opened chasm, fundamentally changing all of us. And it needs to. It should. We wake, and shake, and think this simulation totally sucks! But it’s not one, of course. So welcome to the resistance, which sounds melodramatic but sadly is really not. It’s just regular reality now. The Sisterhood of the Hornet’s Nest, kicking at the hive of patriarchy, since it’s been laid at our feet. You done did it now. We are all in a kerfuffle! Women all across the world are rallying behind us – a testament to the sisterhood. Blessed be, friends. May the odds be ever in our favor.

November 8, 2024 0