I know you are tired, but come. This is the way…
In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest, where no one sees you, but sometimes I do,
and that sight becomes this art.
Rumi
ONCE UPON A WORD
There are feelings too big for the end of the working day. Thoughts that simply don't behave.
Too raw, too unfinished, too honest for most spaces. Things that simmer inside us: too loud for silence, too uncomfortable for small talk, and somehow too unwieldy for a world that frankly doesn't have the time. And yet — or maybe precisely because of that — they want out. They knock. Persistently. Quietly. Sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes exactly when you just wanted to quickly pay for your groceries.
Lionesspoetry was born from exactly this place: from the desire to find words for what simmers inside us : too loud for silence, too uncomfortable for small talk, too true to simply breathe through. And from the realisation that the world around us often has no room for it. That we therefore have to create that space ourselves. To bring people together in an atmosphere carried by love and the willingness to truly show up. To shed light on all the facets of a life, not just the instagram-worthy ones, but also those that surface at three in the morning with no beautiful shape to them. That is Lionesspoetry.
Not more. Not less
THE JOURNEY
The journey began in 2017 on slam stages. Applause, stopwatches, audience voting — an excited, pulsating world. And yet: the words simply wouldn't quite fit in. They didn't compete. They sat down. Made themselves comfortable. And stubbornly refused to "win".
At first, there was disappointment. The quiet, persistent kind — the kind that sits down with you at night and asks: Do I have talent? Do I even belong here? Is this my world? And if not, where then? Questions that hurt. But within them lay the invitation to find your own way.
In the Spoken Word scene, stages opened up that simply let you be. No competition, no judges, no quiet whisper of are you good enough Instead what do you have to say And then silence. The good kind. The kind where people listen without judgement. Countless Open Mic evenings followed, where the own voice grew — sometimes hesitantly, sometimes with full force. Each time more real.
And then something unexpected happened. The words that had once found no place began to touch people, deeply enough that they asked: Can you come and share this with us? Join our podcast? Take the stage with us? Suddenly there were invitations. Not as a poet in competition, but as a voice. As someone who speaks about the magic of poetry as though it were a basic human need.
And then the next question surfaced: What if this space could exist for others too?
We are fascinated by the words, but where we meet is in the silence behind them.
Ram Dass
From this love of language (and of the people who search for it) the workshops were born: The Speaking Heart and Mind Your PoetryNot traditional writing courses. More like an in-between space: between self-reflection and expression, between what lives inside you and the courage to find words for it. It is about the corners and hidden places of our existence: the quiet rooms within us that rarely get attention. And that, despite this, or perhaps precisely because of it, long to be heard.
At the end of 2018, the co-founding of Dreamcatchers followed — Göttingen's first international Open Art Stage. A stage for the arts in all their forms: from acrobatics to trumpet solos, in all languages and styles, with plenty of space to listen, to watch, to sit with what you've just experienced — and above all: to try. To stand on a stage for the very first time. To tremble and do it anyway. A place that feels like family. For all those who ask themselves: Am I even allowed to do this? Am I good enough for this? Does anyone even care?
The answer is always: Yes. Come on stage.
What began as a personal search has become an invitation. To all those who are looking for their voice, who write, who want to be heard. To those who prefer to listen: to feel along, to be moved, to let it resonate.
Lionesspoetry is the belief that words can heal, connect and open spaces that have long been closed. That life in all its colours, even the unnamed ones, deserves to be spoken out loud. That we, as human beings, in all our depth, want to be seen.
With everything that we are. That is the promise. To the word. To the moment. To the beauty and richness of being.