Heartbreak opens onto the sunrise
For even breaking is opening
And I am broken
I’m open
See the love shine in through my cracks
See the light shine out through me
My spirit takes journey
My spirit takes flight
And I am not running
I am choosing
I am broken
I am broken open
Breaking is freeing
Broken is freedom
I am not broken
I am free.
— poem from “Pariah”
pariah lgbt poem poetry free
found while reading “The Enough Moment”
Honorata
By Omekongo Dibinga
5 million screams falling on deaf ears
Fatherless children fathered by foreign soldiers
Homes with no husbands
Husbands with no honor
Rape as a tool for much more than power
Pregnant women’s legs spread
Aborted by their own community
Thus another rape committed
Another violation unforgiven
Another lifeless life lived by abandoned women
But on behalf of men worldwide
I ask you to stand with pride
Because your screams were never silent
We were never compliant in these acts so violent
Across oceans we cried for you when you ran out of tears
Incapable of international intervention to assuage your fears
Your stories became our poems
Your horrors inhabited our homes
But now you must hear that we are here for you
I implore you to forgive the world for having ignored you
As they raped you they said “today you will have husbands …”
But as we embrace you I say “today you will have brothers”
For all of my Congolese sisters, daughters, and mothers
Your perseverance is appreciated
Your persistence respected
Though human interest has depreciated
I’ll ensure you’re no longer neglected
Let the world be your pillow to comfort your despair
And let the love of this one man show you that men do care
i have no words.
the enough moment john prendergast don cheadle genocide womens rights rape congo poetry poem human righs honorata omekongo dibinga
Africa
by David Diop
Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs
Africa of whom my grandmother sings
On the banks of the distant river
I have never known you
But your blood flows in my veins
Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your work
The work of your slavery
Africa, tell me Africa
Is this you, this back that is bent
This back that breaks
Under the weight of humiliation
This back trembling with red scars
And saying yes to the whip under the midday sun
But a grave voice answers me
Impetuous child that tree, young and strong
That tree over there
Splendidly alone amidst white and faded flowers
That is your Africa springing up anew
Springing up patiently, obstinately
Whose fruit bit by bit acquires
The bitter taste of liberty.
Africa david diop poetry poem
There lives inside us
an undeniable flame
and it’s scorching me.
Daily Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson Poetry
