She Had the Misfortune to be a Woman by Delphine Ngokattal

Delphine Ngokattal

She Had the Misfortune to be a Woman

She had the misfortune to be a woman
In a society that looked cannibalistic
Where the right to kill
Only men had

She had the misfortune to be a woman
Where woman existed only in name
Where they were objects
Where the gods gave
Favors only to men

She had the misfortune to be a woman
In that misogyny society
Masculinized
Insensible
Insane

She had the misfortune to be a woman
To oppose herself against the rock
The men government
Those who to their advantages
Made and unmade laws
She dared to criticize the death of a daughter
Resolved to punish the murderer
The great king
The hero of war
Her husband…

But she had the misfortune to be a woman
She protested against this system
Changed the order of things
Punish the guilty

But her misfortune
She was a woman
Yes! Because she dared
She had to be punished
She had to be killed
Clytaemnestra!

Her misery: she was a woman

Metaphor Poem by Stephanie Eberly

Stephanie Eberly

Metaphor Poem

An ember plants inside your mind,
Its heat smolders,
Leaving a burning desire to grow,
Grow into a roaring fire.

Day to day it slowly enlarges,
Consuming the thoughts that enter your consciousness.
Inspiration kindles the small flame within.
A sudden blaze is provoked,
By a word spoken or a gesture received.

A day passes, two, the flame burns continuously,
Never leaving your mind.
It invades like a thief,
Ready to steal your joy at the slightest upheaval.

The day comes, the moment when that flame grabs a hold of your life,
Its flickering fingers encircle all your hopes and dreams.
Nothing else matters but this one idea.
Without warning, a torrent of doubt washes in.

The thief snatches what you had once held onto so dearly,
And like a flash of lightning — the flame is extinguished.
All hope is lost.
But, what is this? Could it be once again?
A small ember planted inside your mind.

An idea, waiting to be stirred to life.

We Shall Never Meet Again by Angel Stith

Angel Stith

We Shall Never Meet Again

I remember the day you told me you loved me.
You said my sassiness attracted you,
And that you couldn’t live without me.
I looked right through your past and chose to believe your lies,
Because being with you gave me a sense of high—
A high I’ve never felt before,
Something that I just wanted more and more.
I had a fear that, if I questioned you, I would lose you.
I thought that without you I would be broken,
Like Sleeping Beauty, never to be awoken.
The day I chose to cut ties with you
Is still imprinted in my brain.
My heart was broken in so many ways.
Yes, I was upset; yes, I cried, but in the end, I was able to rise.
I rose past your terror and, for the first time, saw myself in the mirror.
I saw a young girl, who got caught up in a twisted world,
But was back to standing on her own two feet.
If I learned anything at all, my promise is this:
Our last meeting would be our final kiss.