by Lynn White Source: The Guardian When will we count the dead in Gaza? Those buried in named graves we know,  all the tens of thousands of them, those buried in the rubble, the disappeared  with no one left to name them, are still unknown uncounted. Then the other Disappeared, prisoners of war if it were a war, but with only the rights of terrorists who have no rights at all in this unequal conflict that some call ‘war’. And how can we count the injured in Gaza when there are no hospitals left and its people don’t count so no one can count those numbers. and perhaps ..read more

by Adele Evershed In the quiet of a collective breath-holding / Ladies Night / accidentally played on the radio / so an Israeli spokesman / delivered words / about exacting a price from Iran / to the throb of a disco beat  I listened to the ballistic bass / and retorting trumpets / cut with words of war / as if this was a movie / the music an ironic middle finger / to the inevitability / of the end of the world / and it seemed like another sign / in a week of medieval omen  After / the BBC made no mention of their mistake / Johnnie Walker just played the song / so we could all ..read more

by Susan Vespoli My dead son was in the car  with me as I drove to the lawyer’s office to pick up my net-settlement check and we drove past a laughing-Buddha chihuahua  running against traffic down the center of Dunlap   and we drove through a split of mountain crags  and we drove past a guy twirling and tossing a red-arrow  sign at an intersection and my heart and gut felt on fire  with raw grief and I said, “Well, here we are, Adam,”    meaning the end of the lawsuit  and even as I wanted to sob and flail I could feel him smiling beside me ..read more

by Cindy Veach I watch three old white men on the news talking about abortion how it’s no big deal for a woman to get a bus ticket and travel to another state. It’s trending on X, these old men in their suits and ties with their limp cocks tucked away under the table their small hands gesturing or resting on the table.   I’m hemorrhaging rage, thick red as postpartum blood.   And now Arizona has upheld a draconian Civil War-era abortion law proving that the past does come back to haunt. I almost bled out after my daughter’s birth. I’ve never written about this. It took a helico ..read more

by Bonnie Naradzay A man detained by the Israeli military in northern Gaza shows injuries on his wrists at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 24 December 2023 (AFP/Said Khatib) Israeli doctor says detained Palestinians are undergoing ‘routine’ amputations for handcuff injuries. —CNN, April 6, 2024 On my listserve, someone posts her fears  that the pairs of eclipse glasses she ordered  will not arrive in time. A neighbor shares a link from NASA on how to make a pinhole camera. In the news, I read about Palestinians detained  outside an Israeli ..read more

by Steven Kent "'You have imprisoned our democracy': Inside Republicans' domination of Tennessee" —The Guardian, April 5, 2024 Despite what y'all were taught in school, Democracy is not that cool; We merely use it as a tool To institute one-party rule. Folks come to Nashville, see our sights, While up the hill we're locked in fights* With Tennesseans claiming rights They don't deserve now, by our lights. Theocracy's the goal we've set, And though we haven't reached it yet The hour is coming, never fret. Can't happen here? You wanna bet? *The state capitol sits four bl ..read more

by Jerrice J. Baptiste Haitian policemen stand guard on a street corner amid gang violence in Port-au-Prince on April 8,2024. Last week, my colleagues and I facilitated healing circles for Haitians, both on the island and in the diaspora. In this virtual gathering, known as the Sawubona Healing Circle, we bore witness to the fullness and depth of our pain across different geographical locations. We held space for the fear experienced by those trapped in Port-au-Prince amidst paramilitary violence. We acknowledged the hurt felt by innocent people yearning for communal s ..read more

by Corley Norman It is near twilight and the man next door is mowing his yard. I am fighting my impulse to go over there, pull him away and shout What are you doing? No one mows at night! It defies all common sense! Stop right now!   I would catch him off-guard, unnerve him with my unneighborly outburst. I wouldn’t be mad enough to shoot him or anything. I don't own a gun. But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't shoot him even if I did own a gun. I suddenly realize he might own a gun and enjoy shooting.   What is on my mind is that today many mothers were crying As they held signs ..read more

by Mary Turzillo The Sun and the Moon did a courtship dance did a contrary dance nearer come nearer far dance away till the Sun mocked his luna love japing “cold, changeable she”  and “you love the earth more than me” and it’s true: she grew fat, she grew thin, he was hot, she was cold Apollo, Diana: stag and the doe till she danced right in front of him close to him, over him taking delicious gold bites of him throwing her skirts quite over him till she blotted him out til the night crickets sang the the birds went to sleep a black handkerchief over the land. She punched a ..read more

by Bill Meissner Though we don’t know exactly why, we travel from afar just to see it.  We’ll journey a hundred miles. A thousand. Ten   thousand or more. For some reason we don’t understand, we want to turn our heads toward the sun and see it slowly disappear, the same way our hunched Neanderthal ancestors did, when they noticed   a sudden strange moment of night just outside the mouth of the cave.   But we are modern, and civilized. We drive SUVs to Texas or Maine, find the exact location with our GPS. In case of a traffic jam, we pack the car with rations and nece ..read more