by Lena Ho
If I take a grain of sand
And steal it from a heap
Away from a mountain
That hum the stars to sleep
Is it still a heap?
Tag: literary magazine
A Softer Kind of Audacity
by Jess Whetsel
I find myself shaking when I read the news these days.
My hands tremble as I take the world in, worst-first.
It feels like spoon-feeding myself toxic sludge.
It sits like a stone in my belly amongst the rising tides
of bile and acid. There is only so much I can stomach
before I have to lie down like a Victorian woman on a fainting sofa,
the back of one hand kissing my damp forehead,
the other arm lolling towards the floor like a corpse limb.
Quote of the Week, #14
Every single empire in its official discourse has said that it is not like all the others, that its circumstances are special, that it has a mission to enlighten, civilise, bring order and democracy, and that it uses force only as a last resort. And, sadder still, there always is a chorus of willing intellectuals to say calming words about benign or altruistic empires.
[…]
Rather than the manufactured clash of civilisations, we need to concentrate on the slow working together of cultures that overlap, borrow from each other, and live together. But for that kind of wider perception we need time, patient and sceptical inquiry, supported by faith in communities of interpretation that are difficult to sustain in a world demanding instant action and reaction.
Humanism is centred upon the agency of human individuality and subjective intuition, rather than on received ideas and authority. […] humanism is the only, and I would go as far as to say the final resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.
– Edward W. Said (1935 – 2003), Palestinian American academic, literary critic and political activist, author of Orientalism (1978), The Question of Palestine (1979), Culture and Imperialism (1993), Out of Place: A memoir (1999), Reflections on exile and other essays (2000) and many others.
[Source: A window on the world, 2003, on guardian.org – text adapted from the introduction to a new edition of Orientalism, published by Penguin]
Tall Child
by Taya Wynn
Sometimes I still am the child who never cried:
both brand new and weary
screwing fists into white-knuckled pacifiers
seething with anger
before she could even comprehend what it was.
3 collages
2 poems
The Meaning of Hockey
A short story about the warmth of the ice rink
by Marie-Eve Bernier
I never cared for hockey. Sure, as a Canadian (truthfully, more of a Québécoise), I was aware of hockey but failed to appreciate its beauty and never quite understood its meaning. I would continue to be oblivious about it for far too many years.
Read More »on littleness
Recommendations of the Month II.
We’re continuing our monthly recommendations differently. With a very heavy heart but a new determination. We realized in the past weeks the values we stand for would be empty if we remained silent, so we made clear we stand with the Palestinian people. We join calls not only for an immediate ceasefire, but an end to the occupation and apartheid system in place.
Always but especially in times like these, we need to educate ourselves and use our voices. So, we share some of the resources below, and invite you to find and add more. Finally, we wish for all of us to keep some glimmer of hope in our humanity by speaking up and coming together. Let this be a reminder to inform ourselves of the peoples’ struggles all over the world and stand in solidarity for freedom and dignity for all.
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