If a word has been used to kill people
it is no longer just a word. If it has been used to kill,
it has become a weapon. It only belongs to those
who have died by its hand. It is theirs to use
as they wish.
And you,
straight boy, should keep your hands off things
that don’t belong to you.
You, straight boy, should watch your back
around me.
- To The Boy Who Spilled Slurs At Me,
Thinking I Wouldn’t Scream
Clementine von Radics
c86:
Taken from an anthology entitled Prince of Darkness, 1946
The illustrations are details from The Temptation of St Anthony, an etching by Jacques Callot, 1630
‘Cholera’ - Karl Sandhaas, from ‘Physiognomie Pathologica’ - Krankenphysiognomik,
Stuttgart, 1859
Sharpen the Lances
I know that there must be wars inside your head on some days
and how
some of them
you’re gonna have to fight alone
but I pray that if darkness comes big and too big and sharp
I’ll see you down there
brother of mine
there are swamps that we come from
children of the cypress knee
sister
it’s okay to run
I learned that long ago
I ain’t been still since
it don’t mean I don’t love you
I’m just trying to catch up to my heart
I’ve let it out my hands too many times
I have to learn how to hold it tighter
there are hungry birds that fly around us all
- Anis Mojgani
