Writing is an act of resistance
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Hi
By Rachel Rodman “I’m just saying. I’m a nice guy. I just want to say HI. And you’re going to accept this greeting whether you fucking like it or not.” —Elon James White, from a now deleted Twitter account “Hi,” he demanded. He waited, while everyone watched; he waited with a smile, because…
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Where My Family Is From
By Howie Good Artist’s statement: My family originated in Eastern Europe. Any member who did not emigrate prior to the rise of the Nazism—my maternal grandmother’s parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins—were exterminated in the death camps during World War II. No record of exactly what befell them or where was ever discovered, despite…
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Yet Another Poem About Trees
By Larry Needham “Ah, what an age it is When to speak of trees is almost a crime For it is a kind of silence about injustice!” —Bertolt Brecht, “To Posterity” Before the jar the anecdote and Tennessee, wilderness. Forests primeval, grim and awful— extravagant as first growth imaginings. The Dark Ages. Then dominion…
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U-turn
renewable energy, COP27, Poetry, climate crisis, global warming, fossil fuels, Sarah Waldner, cliamte changeBy Sarah Waldner Sharp U-turn on the language around fossil fuels. The text now includes a reference to “low emission and renewable energy.” New funding arrangement on loss and damage. Phase-down of unabated coal power. Concrete demonstration that we really are all in this together. No one will be left behind. Sharp concern on…
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Global Outcry
Sudan, Nigeria, Haiti, climate migrants, Russian war in Ukraine, Dominica, Syrian refugees, Amal El-Sayed, Afghan women, Iraqi women, Mexican immigrants, cartel violence, Palestine, Congo, Poetry, Ethiopia, refugeesBy Amal El-Sayed A wave of blue and yellow— A sea of sky and grain Washed all over the world. Braving snowstorms and epidemics, You marched in the name of peace. A row of strollers lying in wait In Poland, in Slovakia. Supplies, donations, support. Homes—opening Families—welcoming The whole world—enclosing Ukraine with love. So…
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A Moon Is a Moon Is a Moon
Fiction, domestic violence, misogyny, intimate partner violence, Mandira Pattnaik, arranged marriage, cultural traditionBy Mandira Pattnaik Warning: domestic violence Because you’re the moon, Mother thinks you’re full of circles and spots, and never consistent — rebellious and sulking, often hiding in hoodie jackets, known to break china even with a sponge scrubber, and mostly saying what is best avoided, making mistakes. Sister is better. She poses no troubles,…
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Scheherazade
By Phyllis Wax The tales she told night after night for a thousand and one nights— fascinating enough to keep the king entranced and to save herself from beheading. But bedtime stories from today’s Persia, women targeted like wild game— pheasants or pigeons, squirrels, rabbits— men taking aim at faces, breasts, genitals to cause…
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Batasan ng Lansangan — Street Parliament
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When Ruby Falls
By Marjorie Gowdy “Have you been targeted by the President of the United States?” Lady Ruby Freeman in chalkboard-white suit, crimson hat, asks The Man. Swept aside like yesterday’s ashes, Our Lady. Stalwart Georgia pine, poll counter, valiant, precise. Slandered on screen by a middling mayor-madman. Chased like a fox by hungry hounds, rushed…