Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦

@jempoetry

Poet & visual artist Creative practice•word & image DE House Poet Laureate•‘24 DDOA poetry Fellowship Social justice advocate•Survivor(Plain-dressing community)•Autism-rooted family life ND brain•Forest-rooted🌲 she/her 🌊🇺🇦 www.jempoetry.com

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Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· 27d

In @catherinepierce.bsky.social ‘s #poetry workshop this week, we talked about setting small goals to be a bit more purposeful. So I challenged myself to work with just circles, straight edges &black ink. Not overly ‘poety,’ but it was an exercise in purposefulness. #summerOfAttention #ECK

A handmade rectangular bookmark with rounded corners lies on a warm brown wooden surface. Drawn in black ink on a cream background, the design is composed entirely of overlapping circles, sweeping arcs, straight lines, and filled and unfilled dots. Dense, layered curves intersect across the center, creating a sense of movement and depth, while open spaces toward the edges balance the intricate pattern. A punched hole sits at the top center for a tassel or ribbon.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· 27d

My favorite plant I like to watch #growing is a fern! That gorgeous unfurling fiddlehead 💚 #BlueSkyArtShow #ECK

A pale green fiddlehead unfurls above a carpet of lush ferns in a shaded woodland. Soft focus in the background emphasizes the delicate curl of new growth, highlighting the quiet emergence of spring.

A single unfurling fern frond curves gracefully over a dark green forest floor, its slender stem and fresh leaves standing out against a backdrop of mature ferns in soft shadow.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· 28d

A minimalist artwork on a black background pairs a vertical photograph with a short poem. The photograph shows dark storm clouds parting around a luminous opening in the sky above the silhouettes of treetops, creating the impression of light emerging through turbulent weather. To the right, in white text, the poem reads:

I carry
entire
weather systems
within me.

Yet light
weaves
amongst
the boughs

to the intermost glade.

A small gray signature, jem, appears in the lower right corner. The overall mood is contemplative, contrasting inner turmoil with quiet hope and the persistence of light.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jul 15

“Even my father is scared.” One of my favorite local artists, Oscar Eduardo de Paz's In the Wake of ICE: A Lamentation. His poetry and paintings deepen one another, becoming a witness. A space for connection Sometimes creating is its own quiet rebellion. Check out his website. depazarts.com/Home

Cover of In the Wake of ICE: A Lamentation by Oscar Eduardo de Paz. An abstract painting features a broad red vertical form framed by textured black, white, and blue brushstrokes, with white star-like shapes surrounding it, evoking both the U.S. flag and a figure standing in its midst.

Opening page of In the Wake of ICE: A Lamentation. A brief introduction explains the poem was inspired by conversations with the author’s father during ICE enforcement operations in Chicago. The poem repeats the refrain, “Even my father is worried,” describing fear, resignation, and changing perceptions. Red editorial markings underline and circle portions of the text.

Painting of a smiling blue knit winter hat with floppy ear flaps floating above a masked figure wearing a black cap with a skull emblem and a camouflage face covering. The surrounding text reads, “Some held as ransom. Others devoured in voids meant to trap all light from escaping.”

Painting of a person wearing a black vest labeled “POLICE,” their wrists raised and bound together by handcuffs overhead. The surrounding text reads, “some collected; detained indefinitely. paraded as trophies of the hunt mere trinkets.” The image emphasizes restraint, power, and dehumanization.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jul 5

My obligatory July 4th pic. #ECK #photography My poem on the ‘First Amendment: Dear Christian Nationalists’ on Substack open.substack.com/pub/jempoetr...

An American flag waves against a bright blue sky dotted with soft white clouds. A faint daytime moon is visible in the distance beside the flag, adding a quiet, unexpected detail to the scene.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jul 5

An internally tumultuous Easter morning, when I had the ocean to myself… #BlueSkyArtShow #wide #ECK

A gentle wave curls onto a quiet sandy beach beneath a wide pastel sky at sunset. Soft pink, peach, and pale blue light glow along the horizon while a broad layer of gray-blue clouds stretches overhead. The calm ocean reflects the fading light as a thin line of white foam traces the shoreline.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jul 5

Blue sky, fluffy white clouds. An hour later: early fireworks, lightning, lightning, lightning, then city decides to finish fireworks. I can see the fireworks from an upstairs window facing north. The windows on the south side still light up with lightning 🤷 👀

Dark evergreen trees stand in silhouette beneath a deep blue evening sky as a towering white cloud glows with warm golden light behind them. The bright, textured cloud rises above the treetops, creating a dramatic contrast between the illuminated sky and the shadowed trees below.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jul 2

Poetry last night at the Nomad🔥🔥 The Nomad and D Spence curating a space for the truth!

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jul 2

Open to DE residents! We all know iconic saltwater taffy taste.

Poetry call for DE residents:

Ode To The
Dolles
Sign
Summer Poetry
Contest
FROM DELAWARE POETS INC. & THE REHOBOTH BEACH MUSEUM
LEARN MORE:
OPEN TO
Delaware
RESIDENT
CONTEST DATES.
JULY 1ST-31ST
GUEST JUDGE:
CALLING ALL

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 28

In video form. I may have an obsession with dandelions and their lives. #BlueSkyArtShow #Macro #ECK

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 22

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 21

This root fascinates me. It looks like it should be some kind of animal. Not a ‘beautiful’ #curve but that might have an alter life we know nothing about. #Curve #BlueSkyArtShow

A weathered cypress knee and exposed root lie on gray mud marked with dozens of small animal tracks. The root’s spiky, skeletal shape resembles a tiny dragon or prehistoric creature resting on a muddy shoreline. Damp earth, scattered twigs, and faint green algae create a textured, natural backdrop.

A cypress knee rises from shallow amber-colored water, with submerged roots radiating outward beneath the surface. Sunlight reveals the root structure like a starburst or underwater constellation, while reflections and shadows drift across the still water. The scene has an otherworldly quality, suggesting a hidden world beneath the surface.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 20

Happy Solstice! One of the few, perks of milking cows before dawn was reaching the end of my row, standing in the open barn door, and looking out across the hills. Blue mist rested in valleys, pink light crept over the horizon with our ancestral cemetery on a small hill nearest the barn.

Close-up photograph of a cobalt-blue glass vase filled with cream and deep navy artificial leaves and blossoms, backlit by morning sunlight streaming through a window. Light filters through the pale leaves, creating a stained-glass effect of gold, ivory, and blue. A small bronze-colored figurine of a woman leaning over an open book rests among the arrangement, partially hidden in the shadows. Sheer patterned fabric drapes softly in the background, adding a dreamlike atmosphere of light, shadow, and reflection.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 19

I’ve been told by certain artist that I in no way can call myself an artist - so I’m a dabbler in art. Yesterday’s ink sketch & feeling alive, even for a few hours, when around trees.

Open sketchbook resting on someone’s lap in a wooded area. On the right-hand page is a black-ink drawing of a weathered, twisting branch or small tree with several drooping clusters of long, needle-like leaves. The branch curves in multiple directions, with broken stubs and irregular lines emphasizing age and character. Dappled sunlight falls across the page, while leaf litter, roots, and forest floor textures blur in the background, suggesting the sketch was drawn outdoors from direct observation.

AI alt text: Self-portrait of a woman with shoulder-length silver-gray hair resting against a large tree in a woodland setting. She wears a blue patterned shirt with flowing, branch-like lines and looks calmly toward the camera with a soft, reflective expression. Dappled sunlight filters through the leaves, illuminating her face and clothing while casting gentle shadows. The textured tree trunk fills much of the background, with forest leaf litter and green foliage visible around the edges, creating a peaceful connection between person and place.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 18

My first “gather things on the ground” piece blew apart, so I made another at the base of a tree and let sun and shadow become part of the composition. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXyloid #photography #ECK

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 18

Today’s ’sit on the ground and use what’s within your reach art.’ By the time I looped back, the wind had deconstructed it. #AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXyloid #photography #ECK

Low-angle photograph on a wooden footbridge in a forest. Sweetgum seed balls, leaves, and twigs rest on the bridge planks in the foreground while weathered railings lead into a green canopy of trees overhead.

Close-up of a woodland arrangement made from leaves, twigs, and seed pods on a weathered wooden bridge. Pale broken branch tips rise above layers of green and yellow leaves, highlighting textures of wood, bark, and decay.

A woodland assemblage of sweetgum seed balls, leaves, twigs, bark, and seed pods rests on weathered wooden bridge planks. Broken branches radiate outward like spokes while green, gold, and brown foliage creates a forest mosaic.

A slender path of gathered forest treasures—leaves, twigs, lichen, and seed pods—winds across a weathered wooden bridge. Sunlight filters through the trees, turning the bridge into a canvas for a fleeting woodland creation.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 18

My Old Order Amish great-grandfather sat at the preacher’s table & gazed out this window. The church still smells of wood & memory. Light still finds its way inside. Some times & distances are measured in generations. #ECK #AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXyloid #photography #Amish

The Somerset County Old Older Amish were the second oldest Amish settlement in the USA. They have church houses. Rumor is that the RR workers kept crashing their home services just to eat the food - so they built a church house to not have to feed them. Very Anabaptish on them. IYKYK. 🙄

Alt text: Sunlight streams through a single window in a simple wood-paneled church, illuminating the grass outside and casting a soft glow across the dark interior. An old wall clock hangs beside the window, while the warm grain of the wooden walls and benches evokes a sense of history, quiet faith, and generations past.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 17

From over on Substack. @ptshattuck.bsky.social

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 16

bark, lichen, and moss hold the forest’s secrets close call me to come home #WeekXforXyloid #EastCoastKin #photography #nature #haiku

Close-up photograph of a weathered tree trunk covered in pale gray lichen, shelf fungi, and strands of green moss. The rough bark is deeply textured with vertical grooves, while clusters of bracket mushrooms emerge from the decaying wood. The scene highlights intricate woodland details and the layered textures of decomposition and renewal.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 12

Witness #AlphabetChallenge #WeekWforWater #EastCoastKin

Reflection of a leafless tree in still water, its dark trunk and intricate network of bare branches spreading across the pond’s pale surface. Brown winter grasses and reeds line the far bank, while a few scattered leaves float on the water. The reflection creates the illusion of roots reaching downward, giving the image a symmetrical, dreamlike quality.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 11

Some days I want to disappear into the woods. Let the trees remember me. No explanations. No defending myself. No trying to translate my heart into a language others will accept. Just stone, lichen, birdsong &quiet knowing that not everything broken has to be fixed to be worthy of belonging.

A garden scene beside a weathered stone wall. Delicate white umbels of flowers rise through lush green foliage, while pink bleeding hearts hang in clusters near the top and bottom of the image. Patches of pale lichen cling to the gray stones. The photograph is set against a black background with a minimalist poem in white text:
constellations shine
where hearts bleed

lichen maps
trust
broken
stone

The poet’s signature, jem, appears in the lower right corner.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 10

I’ve no idea where this is going…but I’m along just for the ride. When life feels out of my control, I focus on the small things. #Art #Sketchbook #AbstractDrawing

A black sketchbook page filled with an abstract composition of overlapping circles and crescent shapes drawn in metallic gold and white ink. Many of the circles contain intricate patterns, including swirling vines, lace-like filigree, geometric borders, floral motifs, branching coral- or root-like forms, and layered linework. Several larger circles remain unfilled, creating strong areas of negative space. A cascade of rootlike tendrils extends from the lower right portion of the design, while curved arcs sweep across the upper section, giving the piece a celestial, orbital quality. The contrast between the dark background and luminous ink creates a sense of depth, movement, and interconnectedness.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 9

I took my mom with me to the upper farm fields at the golden hour to listen to birds and watch the sunset. When trees glow gold and the hills turn pink and blue opposite the setting sun. Last pic: farm where I grew up #EastCoastKin #Sunset #photography

A tall, weathered tree rises above a dense forest edge, its upper branches sparse and sunlit by the golden light of evening. A meadow of long green grass stretches across the foreground beneath a clear blue sky.

Tall meadow grasses dotted with small yellow wildflowers sway in the foreground. Beyond them, a line of trees frames distant hills beneath a pastel sky washed in pink and blue twilight.

Bands of dark clouds drift across a glowing sunset sky. Shades of peach, gold, and rose illuminate the horizon above a dark tree-covered ridgeline in silhouette.

A farmstead at dusk sits in silhouette against a fading evening sky. A barn with twin silos, nearby farmhouse, and tall evergreens stand along a ridge as the last light lingers on the horizon.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 9

Thank you! 💛

A woodland garden surrounds a low moss-covered stone wall. Delicate white umbel flowers rise above dense green foliage, including clusters of variegated cream-and-green leaves in the foreground. Taller leafy plants form a lush backdrop, while dappled shade and a dark stand of trees create depth and a peaceful, natural atmosphere.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 8

Reposting, because it always makes me happy. #stunday #EastCoastKin #PhotographersOfBluesky #photography #MobilePhotography #nature

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 7

No need for #bloomscrolling when you could just take a walk in my mom’s yard. #Flowers

Woodland garden bordered by a weathered picket fence, with bright pink foxgloves, moss-covered ground, and shade-loving plants beneath tall trees.

Cottage-style flower garden filled with pink, white, and purple columbines rising above dense green foliage. A stone birdbath sits partially hidden among the blooms.

Shaded woodland garden centered around a large weathered tree stump draped in moss and lichen. Ferns, foxglove blooms, and other shade-loving plants surround the stump beneath a leafy tree canopy, while an old wagon wheel and open grassy field are visible in the background.

Lichen-covered stones and surrounded by lush greenery, white flowering umbels, and arching pink bleeding hearts.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 7

Seems like a good reason… Blacksmith’s sign at Spruce Forest Artisan Village, Grantsville, MD #BlueSkyArtShow #Busy

A rustic wooden wall holds a glowing porch light, a handmade business-hours sign, a hanging “closed” sign, and a whimsical wrought-iron sculpture with curling, vine-like lines. The weathered sign reads, “Usually Open, Mon–Sat 10–4, Closed: Wed & Sun. If not here, busy saving Earth. Sorry.” Cobwebs, aged wood, and repurposed materials give the scene a quirky, folk-art charm.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 4

@adkinsarboretum.bsky.social #woods #photography #art #CreativePractice #ForestFloor #FoundArt #EphemeralArt #ArtInNature #MindfulObservation

A temporary artwork made from found forest materials rests on a wooden platform. Twigs, oak leaves, seed pods, acorns, and strips of pale shed bark are arranged into a circular, nest-like composition. The piece blends naturally into its surroundings, emphasizing its fragile and temporary nature.

A shaded woodland path curves gently uphill beneath a dense canopy of green leaves. Sunlight filters through the trees, casting intricate leaf-shaped shadows across the pale dirt trail. The surrounding forest is lush and layered, creating a tunnel-like sense of depth and quiet.

Moss-covered stones form a rough circle around a small trickle of water in a muddy woodland streambed. The rocks vary in size and shape, their surfaces softened by moisture, moss, and time. Fallen leaves and dark earth frame the scene.

Joyce EM 🌊🇺🇦@jempoetry· Jun 4

I don’t have words today, but I sat on a platform in the woods &used whatever was within my reach to make something I would leave behind. Every leaf chosen. The gift of shed bark gathered from the forest floor. And then I walked away from it. Sometimes the point is simply to notice.