The Stain of Silence

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You stole my voice,

smothered it silent,

reaching deep within me

to strangle it dead.

This you-caused stain

seeps deep, over and around

the broken pieces within,

keeping the flatline alive

and soaking sinking deeper

with every promptly delivered

broken promise

and veil of invisibility

that you forcefully drape over me

and that only serves to fan and set

this stain.

 

Most Beautiful

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When the rain is coming down so hard,

you can barely see past your nose,

and the clouds hanging over you are so gray

that they look like jet black puddles of broken smears…

When the thunder of your own thoughts clashes and clangs,

drowning out the lightning spearing out of your heart,

and the cold from without is wrapping firmly and tightly

around within and across what’s left of your joy…

you must remember

you must recall

where once it resided,

cushioned by faith and

buoyed by self-love,

it will resurface.

And you will be alright,

you will rise.

 

 

#metoo in Liberia; The MTM Story

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Your voice is silenced by the thought that nobody will believe you.

I read this article recently, authored by Finlay Young in Time Magazine. It is a long, sad, shocking story about trust misplaced, dreams deferred and very heartbreaking #metoo moments. The events happened in Liberia, a place where I once lived a decade ago, where I learned how to surf. The country, at that time, was still reeling from the after effects of the war. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was rebuilding her country, but the remnants of war showed themselves in the stumps of amputees and machete victims in downtown Monrovia. Buildings were still blown out from the war, and families had settled as squatters into these dilapidated buildings; some had huge gaping holes and Continue reading →

Pendulum

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I’ve touched both the sky and the depths

of a fiery hell, fire licking at a strained heart,

pushed to the limit with a pendulum of emotions.

I have swung high up on a high wire with no net,

and stuck my tongue out in glee, catching those

snowflakes of happiness, icy with promise;

pricks of crystal sharp joy elevating me further up

into a brilliantly azure sky welcoming my ascent.

Then I dipped into the smoky and dark pits,

lit only by the flashes of brimstone and hellfire, Continue reading →