By Linda Mink
Futility like an outcast sparrow reigns supreme
Who will love one so insignificant?
Worth less than a dime a dozen
One fluffed-up feathery ball of joyless chill
Sheltering alone against the world's storms
Waiting for the day when it will fly free into the sun
By Rebecca Brown
Peace, fall where you may.
Take the form of a tear, for those who hate.
If only salt could heal their pain.
Appear, within a pair of loving arms.
If only a hug could manifest or procreate,
as quickly as sadness does.
Rise, inside a rainbow.
Spread comfort like a picture cloud.
Ebb and flow, with tidal completeness.
Caress each incomplete soul,
with the eternal timelessness of touch.
To feel such comfort.
To sing along with the harmony of happy hearts.
This world.
Is it lost?
Have we made sure, our own demise?
By Rebecca Brown
For awhile I thought I had.
New love.
New dreams.
New smiles.
Letting go, the small things that hurt.
They are tiny compared to past, trashed confidence.
Never quite finding my true place in the equation.
Maybe the answer is stuck in some ugly fucking math book, somewhere.
If so, I won't look there.
Why bother.
By Shemiza Rashid
Her veil the fabric of her being,
ripped to shreds by the shrouded debate.
Silently savaged by a political agenda,
awaiting eagerly for her people to surrender.
Placing her in the worlds glare
to be watched by soulless stares.
They say she plays hide and seek,
but they misunderstand,
she is but at peace
in this eclectic land that talks of freedom of rights.
That has placed so much value upon one’s face.
To carve, to drain and to pump, and paint
Imprisoned by fashion, by month, by week or by date.
So free is she my nikabi sister .....
Her veil, her fabric protecting her unique untainted face.
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By Rebecca Brown
We have been chosen.
Given the chance to become stronger.
Put into the depths of discomfort,
for a reason.
It all makes sense.
Pain is a raw lesson,
but what lesson?
How to cry?
When to keep fighting, or die?
I am still winning.
Three steps forward...two steps back..
The cancer fights too.
This time, almost seducing my defenses.
Luring them with the offer of escape.
Come....and the pain will stop.
Not yet.
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