the girl
gauzy dress
tattered and torn
burning
breathless through brambles
reaching a river
pursued
panting
she must cross it
take a step into
freezing water
numbing bones
shaking shivering
pale skin and blue lips
trip
and
fall
hands fall forwards
trying to catch
whatever is left of yourself
but pieces crumble and scatter
on mossy rocks
sharper than they
look
howling dogs and
snarling men
filthy
hunting
they will be here soon
so get up
because there is no more time
to lie here
and wish you are not
the girl
who was maybe once loved
face down
in frigid murky water
the only company in death
those who persecute her
as her pale body
begins to rot
even god
starts to
forget
about her
first
her hands
then
her face
then
her hair
until there is
nothing
left
so that when the dogs
frothing lips
raised fur
and the men
roaring voices
savage thoughts
arrive
the girl is gone
nothing left of her but a
whisper of wind
and the scent of sandalwood
and strawberries
and summer days
long forgotten
but now remembered by those
who never knew them
maybe god didnt forget her
maybe he saved her

"feel the rush of my blood
i'm seventeen again
i am not scared of death
i've got dreams again
it's just me and the curve of the valley
and there is meaning on earth, I am happy"
(...)
"a minute from home but I feel so far from it"
(...)
"the death of my dog, the stretch of my skin
it's all washin' over me, I'm angry again"
(...)
"the things that I lost here, the people I knew
they got me surrounded for a mile or two"

- the view between villages by noah kahan

if you scream
do it silently
make sure youre not a bother

faster
faster
faster
i havent done enough,
ive havent even gone anywhere
stop the treadmill
im still in the same spot
useless

respect your elders
a rhetoric taught for eons
passing through the generations

taught to people of colour
to the indigenous peoples
to the poor
to the sick
to the disabled
to women
to lgbtq+ peoples
to the gender non conforming
to the religious

to children who are
and will be
everything that they fear

but when the elders
remove you from yourself
a shell of what you could be
if you had room to grow

how do we decide when you dont deserve our respect?

if we decide you dont deserve our respect
what happens then?

what will happen when those that were oppressed
now have room to grow?
the glass that covered the candle has cracked
the flame is spreading
and it will burn this cursed house
from the inside out

the power to save
yourself comes from who you
are and where you go

i will not stay put
and there is nothing you can do about it