A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE OBLIVIOUS
The capital of Indonesia's Aceh province has imposed a partial curfew for women
that it says will reduce sexual violence.
Their "out of sight-out of mind" policy has negated each woman's fight for equality
And turned their voices down to silence.
A 15-year-old Michigan boy on Sunday completed a three-day, 57-mile walk across the state,
carrying his younger brother on his back.
Would the world get better if we thought of each person as part of our family?
Would then our instinctive response to our differences be to defend rather than attack?
Perched on a thin mattress laid atop the concrete floor, Abu Ahmed described how ISIL
cemented its grip on Hawija's residents through fear.
True strength is to show love to these terror raisers and oath breakers,
To forgive and to bless even as they are stripping us of all we hold dear.
An epic 33-day long journey to foster national unity, peace, coexistence and harmony,
the Ranbhumi Rally for Unity reached the Galle Face Green
Makes me wonder exactly how much of the good we do for others is for show
Have our good intentions translated to useful actions? That remains to be seen.
--
They should call it epipHERny because I feel like it was all mine. I selfishly guard the
secret garden of my soul, that I stumbled on one gloomy, drizzly day where not much
was wrong, but not much was right either. In the stagnant constancy that is my
meandering life, this was a jolt out of my own complacency. This was one of those rare,
sought after moments that changes who you are. Not the fresh coat of lipstick type
change that is eventually blotted by the tissue of time, but the inner temple type change
where parts of who you were crumble under scrutiny...and the fortification of who you
will always be is rebuilt on solid rock.
I am enough. I am abundant. I am whole. Yes, there are parts of me that need honing;
yes, my tongue lashes out too indiscriminately; yes, I am overly sensitive and yes, I
have phases of intense selfishness & thoughts of pure perversity,
But there is not a single part of me that is incomplete. I am not a lonely jigsaw puzzle
with pieces missing and I am certainly not one half of anything or anybody. I was born
whole. I was born strong. I was born to shine through eternity.
Though this world had stripped me of my certainty & made me wonder about the
wilderness in my naked soul, I know now, that I am whole. I have survived everybody
and everything that they have thrown at me so far, and now there's a surety in my step
that I can't shake and they can't break. I am whole.
Untitled
Girl, I need a man.
Not want, but need.
The siren's call my fey soul heeds
To fall smiling into an ocean of mediocrity
Armchair feminists mouthing steadfast hypocrisy
Tug of war, gaining ground for their perceived equality
Friday night rolls around, they hunt for Stepford normalcy.
Their principles hold up like an illusionist's mirror
The rabbit at the end making their deception clearer.
Independence isn't a trend; it's a responsibility, a promise
Standing up for Hers doesn't mean stomping down on His.
Acceptance isn't weakness, but wisdom not lent
That the rose and the thorn are inherently different.
You're wrapped in a tissue lion, tears leaking behind claws
That a paperback hero would woo open all your doors,
Evading realization that the build-up of that hurt
Is from battling for His acceptance, not resting in your worth.
With love and hate resting on such thin a line
That you cross the border every weekend night.
Mistaking every shallow victory with vindication of your cause
Lay down your arms, wipe your war paint & pause.
Girl, I need you
to be happy with you.
