When a Challenge Becomes a Testament
A Poetry and Album Cover Mandala Zine with Poems and Mandalas from the Song Title Poetry Challenge May 2025
When a Challenge Becomes a Testament
It began simply enough: a playful prompt from a fellow writer on Substack—to create a poem each day in May using only song titles. No edits. No commentary. One artist per letter of the alphabet. A shared constraint, an artistic container. I accepted the invitation with open hands and an open heart.
But not every open hand is met with one in return.
Halfway through the challenge, I shared something personal in response to the poem for the letter L—a piece built from the titles of songs by k.d. lang, a favorite of mine and of my late partner. In my author’s note, I spoke of the life we carved together: 22 years in a lesbian relationship, even as she remained married to her gay husband. Ours was a Rainbow Family, imperfect but real, true in its defiance of convention and rich with love that didn’t need to be explained.
And for that truth, I was blocked.
There was no conversation, no disagreement explored. Just a sudden absence. A silencing.
So I did what poets do: I kept writing.
This zine is the full collection of those poems. It holds 26 days of resilience, crafted entirely from the song titles of artists who have walked beside me in sound and spirit—Gloria Gaynor, Tracy Chapman, Nina Simone, Yoko Ono, and more. Each poem speaks not just in lyrics, but in echoes of defiance, grief, desire, and survival.
I offer this to you not as an artifact of rejection, but as a celebration of expression. The kind that doesn’t require approval to be valid. The kind that, when faced with erasure, makes art anyway.
In the canyon of misunderstanding, I choose to keep singing.
And if the words meet you somewhere real, I hope you’ll share them.
With gratitude for every listener and every voice that refuses to be quieted,
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Oh nearly 💯 pages ✨ Thanx 4 sharing 🤠 Drink Espresso ☕ God bless U!
I love this Zine! I'd never heard of zines until recently and now they are popping up everywhere! This is great, Jay! Well done :) xx