Writing is an act of resistance
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A Sunday in October
anti-Semitism, Ariel M. Goldenthal, gun lobby, Narrative nonfiction, gun control, NRA, school shootings, mass shootings, Tree of Life SynagogueBy Ariel M. Goldenthal The day after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, I lied to my second-grade students: You are safe at Hebrew school. You will love learning the Aleph-Bet this year. Yes, you can open the windows and feel the early fall air ripple through the gaps between your outstretched fingers. You…
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Ho’oponopono
By Kelsey D. Mahaffey “In the book of the earth, it is written: nothing can die.” – Mary Oliver The morning after it happens again—weary with all the thoughtless use of prayer, I return to the Native path— for solace, for remembrance, for release— But grief is a heavy hold. Last night, I lay…
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It’s Complicated
By Mark Williams I’m scrolling through my Facebook feed—sunsets, cats, lost dogs, cats—when I see a post from a friend I’ve known for thirty-plus years. Someone like someone you know, I bet. Your someone might roof Habitat homes, deliver meals to shut-in’s, conduct sing-a-longs at elder cares, teach kids to read. Without divulging my…
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The Mind-Plough
Christina Hennemann, male gaze, health equity, domestic violence, intimate partner violence, gender rolesBy Christina Hennemann We rest on this earth where they once ploughed, the sweat and laughs formed freckles under the sun and soil sloppy on shoelaces; my mother stumbled over a rock, stitches on cheek, her needle and thread that sewed my socks, my curtains, shade from the blazing truth out there, we’re invading…
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Campers Rarely Drown at the YMCA
By Janna Miller At camp, Julie told me I had to let her scratch my arms until they bled to be friends, and Julie told me to get lost in the woods or she wouldn’t talk to me, and Julie told me to do something I forget what, but I signed up for a…
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This Time, Ukraine
By Mercedes Lawry Beneath the ground a green thunder, roots weave among limbs of the fallen, so war digs and swallows and the birds still etch the smoking sky. Prayers falter, disappear. How do we watch from afar, our fingers twitching, our thoughts but ashes? Hopeless it seems as the rusty wheel of history…
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Welcome to Writers Resist, the June 2023 Issue
Summer’s upon us, and wild flowers have painted California’s landscapes brilliant. The flowers’ seeds can lie dormant for decades, emerging only when their soil is disturbed. While the works in this issue have been inspired by seemingly countless disturbances confronting us today, may the poppies inspire hope and action. In the meantime, we’re delighted to…
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Two Poems
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The Rise of a Martyr
By Bänoo Zan For Nika Shakarami 1 At your memorial 2 the Luri 3 song echoed on speakers: “Mother, mother, it’s time for war . . .” 4 Today would have been your birthday Forty days before on the streets of Tehran dead girl—living God— burning your hijab— darkness on fire— your Derafsh-e Kavian…