Meet Dolores Haze
Kawtagain Shore
By Dolores Camilla Haze
Growth spurts, while necessary, tend come with unavoidable growth pains. These pains—these fragments of limbo—make our eventual transformation all the more delectable.
I fell into the whites of my eyes
Dragged down by a riptide.
Merciless gnawing waters drown
The perversion of thought.
I am caught in a death glare,
Made to feel (as air feels the flutter of wings)
Like a receding mirror— lurking
In my own reflection.
Go lower.
Anything that can go wrong has already happened.
You are your weight in sandy muck and mires.
Tapping through one sided glass but there is no echo,
Not even a laugh.
Refusal discharged in a silent explosion.
Crystal clear ringing spearhead through out
All your oceans.
Your connotations are shucked in a swift keen motion.
Surrender circles inner eyelid shores.
A blind beast with no sense of due north.
A yawn escapes its serrated jaw,
Carnage breathes out.
Hunger is languid, but never gaunt.
Slowly at first and then all at once:
Close your eyes and think about
The northern lights,
Wrapped up tight into a little ball—
A piece of citrus curved in
Your palm.
Warmth gradually reduced to this simple expression—
Close your eyes and think about
The northern lights,
Wrapped up tight into a little ball—
A piece of citrus curved in
Your palm.
Warmth gradually reduced to this simple expression—
“There are places you haven’t been where you already belong”
“There are places we haven’t been
Where we already belong.”
Process
This piece started off from our “Create your own Holiday” workshop with NBCU. For the most part, holidays are a way to celebrate community and culture. I wanted to find a way to mold this celebratory energy into something more intimate. My piece then reflects a sort of “personal” holiday akin to a coming-of-age celebration like a bar mitzvah or a quinceañera. My biggest desire was to reflect a theme of differentiation between growing up and maturing, as in no longer identifying with what happens to you and instead choosing to identify with what you make happen. The hope that inevitably blossoms from this growth spurt is worth celebrating.
“Joining Career 360 turned into another moment for me to grow. I learned how to collaborate and looked for ways to fully step into a more mature, self-assured person…I swear I feel like crying just trying to express my gratitude.”
– Dolores Haze, Editorial Intern and Class of 2023 Alum
Girls Write Now’s Career 360 track focuses on preparing young women and gender expansive youth to enter the workforce with formidable skills to thrive and achieve their career-life goals.
After graduating from Career 360, Dolores was hired by Girls Write Now as an Editorial Intern to continue her professional development.
Says Dolores, “Girls Write Now allowed me to envision a future for myself—one where I would write myself into existence.”
Our guiding principle: If you can write, you can do anything. When you can give, we can do everything. With the holistic experience of Girls Write Now’s programs—and mentors to back them for life—mentees like Dolores thrive in industries from publishing and media to technology, finance, and beyond. Your gift strengthens this pipeline of diverse talent we all benefit from.
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