reclaim your voice.
Some days chase me Making me run from the Devil himself Though even the Devil doesn’t make me run as far Knowing Depression can knock my very breath away With just one thought. But some days chase me anyway Making me some nervous shell Of the confident woman I pretend to be. This strong beautiful…
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I wear glittering jewels around my neck Though all they remind me of Is the weight of such a sour love A love like rotten cream That curdled long ago Under the heat of your hate Of my innocent wholeness. So determined to break me In order to convince yourself The best cups to drink…
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Featured Image: Paulo Nicolello They tell us to hold on As if that ever stopped homes from washing away From a rushing flood Or stopped a plane From crashing down to Earth In a blaze of fire and fear. But our wings were sawed-off And we fell from the high Heavens Not in a flurry…
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Featured Illustration: Shehzil Malik They ask me Are you fasting? Then look on with suspicion When I say no Waiting for some explanation As to why I’m not quite This caricature of a Muslim woman They’ve put together in their heads From scraps on the news, TV shows, movies, And their general opinion Of what…
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Featured Image: Laura Shannonhouse We are gathered here today The Masked Priest’s voice booms To celebrate the life Of this straight self Though voices wail And I open my eyes to peek Too curious to keep them shut And suddenly I see A hundred lovers so beautiful Though they weep draped in black, Gripping odd…
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Featured Image: Jernej Graj Dear Straight Self I wish you had known many things Though I know you needed to stumble Blindly groping about in the darkness Before you could rip that blindfold off your eyes And finally sprint into daybreak. I now know you were deluded So deluded by the illusion Of your heterosexuality…
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Featured Illustration: Danielle Brooks, ‘Black Woman’ I try on masks and coats, Trying to find the right face and skin Lest they dump me in the graveyard And hang me out to dry Like rotten fruit in a bowl Careful to separate me from the others Lest I spoil them too, So focused on speaking…
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Featured Image: Nathan Dumlao Derek Chauvin is Guilty of second-degree murder Guilty of third-degree murder And guilty of second-degree manslaughter. Are the first words I wake up to This ugly truth I always knew But they wrapped up under that statement It was one bad apple Asking, What was George Floyd doing? As if it…
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Featured Image: Guilherme Stecanella I’ve learned I don’t want to be loved like the world is ending Because in that moment You’d love the Devil himself If it meant having something to hold on to And call yours Because in darkness there is desperation And in death acceptance So long as we may say we…
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