I am thinking of Palestine
I am thinking of Palestine
a death toll that has risen
beyond human comprehension
another journalist martyred
for speaking truth to power
parents clutching their children’s bodies
praying they live to see another day.
I am thinking of Palestine
moral boundaries crossed
in the pursuit of devastation
widespread starvation
water rations
blackouts in telecommunications
surgeries forcibly performed
without anesthetics
two ambulances tasked with the impossible
to alleviate the suffering of millions
at the hands of those militarily (ir)responsible.
I am thinking of Palestine
senseless violence and statistics
the deaths add up
but the justifications never do.
I am thinking of Palestine
the land they carry in their blood
ancestral homes nestled
between the river and the sea
now beneath buildings and bodies
that never got to see
the return of their homelands
their people and places freed.
I am thinking of the places
Palestinians seek refuge
in Lebanon / in Jordan / in Egypt
intergenerational refugee camps
tatreez passed down through the decades
a living testament to resistance
ancestral memories woven
through the fabric of displacement.
I am thinking of Palestinians
how it must ache to be (up)rooted
migrating from stolen lands to stolen lands
suspended in liminal forests
seeing the maple of my home
while yearning for the olive of their own.
I am thinking of my Palestinian friends
who from a world away
tirelessly carry this work on
showing me what it means
to be all in on collective liberation
anti-colonialism is a hard-won fight
but their courage crosses borders
and forced removal will not stop them
from igniting a movement.
I may not be Palestinian
but I do know what it is like
to have your homelands
renamed and reshaped
under colonial occupation —
so I am thinking of Palestine
but I am not just thinking of Palestine
I am reading accounts from the ground
sharing the next event
showing up in the streets
boycotting businesses
and reaching out to politicians
knowing it is the least I can do.
Were the roles reversed
it is what I would want
my Palestinian friends to do for me
our liberation, bound up with one another —
— none of us free
until all of us are free.
It’s been four years
CW: Sexual assault. If you require support after reading this, please reach out to one of the phone numbers listed here.
It’s been one day.
I head to work, hungover and reeling from the weekend.
I relay the events of that night:
the anxiety,
the drinks,
the party,
the club,
the cab ride—
but there are parts I don’t remember.
Then a part where I wake up to him in my bed, not knowing how he got there.
He and I don’t speak about it. The elephant in the room does the talking for us.
He leaves, and tears follow. There is truth sitting in front of me, too big to swallow. There is reassurance from friends that “he didn’t mean anything by it”. There is me, dusting myself off to drink champagne at brunch.
My boss doesn’t dust this off. She shuts the office door, declaring sexual assault.
There’s no way.
My best friend wouldn’t.
Would he?
It’s been one week.
I’ve realized that my best friend would.
That he did.
And it terrifies me.
My week has been full
of hospital visits,
of flights home,
of crisis counseling,
of being asked,
“So what are you going to do?”
My family begs, “Stay here, get better,
don’t go to school”
but I refuse to throw in the towel.
He’s already taken my body from me—
I can’t let him take my campus too.
And besides, when the worst day of my life
has already happened to me,
what else is left to lose?
It’s been one month.
And the answer is, a lot.
While my peers are writing essays
I am proving myself to lawyers.
While friends make our university town home
I sleep on their couches, too scared to be alone.
While others win scholarships,
I drop down to part-time studies,
and lose mine because of it.
If the first month has taught me anything,
It’s that rape culture is alive and well,
and my case is no exception.
My story spreads like wildfire
making me the punchline of every rape joke
and the target of every girl groups’ gossip.
It’s been six months.
I may have won the investigation,
But I lost myself in the process.
I don’t eat or sleep much these days.
I don’t feel like myself much these days.
I don’t want to carry on much these days.
Therapy will eventually dig me out
of the shell I’ve made a home out of.
But today, it feels like he wins.
It’s been one year,
and I still feel miserable.
I am dating again.
Not for myself, just to feel something, really—
but when my date pushes me against the elevator,
scrapes my face gruffly with his stubble,
pries my mouth open with his tongue
and chokes me without asking,
the only thing I feel is anger.
I fought a man once, and I am tired of fighting.
So I wait for it to be over, and let him cross my boundaries.
It’s been two years.
I am living on a friend’s couch,
running from trauma in the name of adventure—
But no matter the miles between me and what happened to my body,
I always remember.
What I don’t know is that ten days later,
I will dive in the ocean, bask in the sun,
and for the first time in years,
I will feel truly, genuinely happy.
Mere weeks after that,
I will start a new chapter, in a new city,
where no one knows anything about me,
and it will be just the liberation I need.
It’s been three years.
I’m told the day doesn’t warrant recognition.
That it’s time to
forgive,
let go,
move on.
I give myself a sick day.
I know my body well enough by now
to know what she actually needs.
Sleep.
Fresh air.
Time to grieve.
This year, I have a partner.
He tells me that no matter where I am, he’s with me in spirit.
He tells me he’ll marry me one day, if I allow him to earn it.
For the first time in years, I feel like
my body means something to someone
and I let him a little more in.
It’s been four years now.
Each passing trip around the sun brings aching anticipation
of a day that’s never become easy.
I know by now that
the trauma may never fully leave me—
But today,
I set boundaries, and have my consent respected.
I advocate for change, that impacts the next generation.
I love with my whole heart, and it feels better than I imagined.
It has taken four years,
but I have built a big, beautiful life
around my assault,
and rendered it
so much smaller
in the process.
Love was a rollercoaster
Love was an electric
swift-escalating crush
yearning to see them again
desperation to be touched.
Love was butterflies at the thought of them
swarms of fluttering anxiety;
viewing red flags through rose-coloured glasses
recklessly ignoring friends’ warnings.
Love was a deep-dive intensified
by late-night confessions
shared trauma
promises made in haste;
divulging how others had hurt before
naively trusting this would not be the same.
Love was high-infatuation passion
a sense of being finally understood;
leaning on sweet nothings as crutches
avoiding asking tough questions I should.
Love was a rollercoaster
thrilling highs
and drops without warning;
each time I opened myself up
I broke my wishbone falling.
When it came knocking again
I told love I did not want it;
heartbroken, angry, bruising
I closed myself off from new darlings.
Love had other plans for me
but it would need to sneak in unsuspected;
this time, steeped slow and sweet
founded on steady connection.
Love landed again
in the form of a friend
flooding me with warmth
I thought I’d forgotten;
no late-night secrets or lofty promises
just two companions, talking.
This love, steadfast and sure
made known their feelings for me;
they gave me a soft landing place to
heal anxious, avoidant tendencies.
My love, choosing you
was still a cliff-dive of the heart kind
terrifying to take a chance on;
but when the words
“I’m in love with you” tumbled out,
your lips were there, ready to catch them.
Today, love builds our own unintelligible language;
I don’t get lost in someone else’s world
instead, we build ours together.
Loving you
cracked me open emotionally;
made me tender in a way
I never knew I could be.
Love was a rollercoaster
and I used to think
that was all it could be;
but these days,
I have passion and peace
and I would choose that over anything.
The summer I stopped being afraid
The summer I stopped being afraid
I ordered a double scoop of indulgence,
lapped at focaccia doused in oil and balsamic
reminded myself that double zero was a sentence
for which I was no longer interested in starving.
I did not juice cleanse for revenge
I moved my body only when it wanted
When beach day came
I said “on my way”
put my belly in a two-piece
and flaunted it.
The summer I stopped being afraid
I asked for a pay raise
told the chauvinist he could not speak that way
did not work a minute past five
took all my vacation time
without feeling guilty.
I poured into my passions
let myself be bad at art
even worse at dancing
I skinny-dipped with strangers
stole the stage at karaoke.
When rumours swirled about me
I did not apologize for my existing
when I adored my own company
it ceased to matter if someone,
somewhere out there hated me.
The summer I stopped being afraid
I grew out my pussy hair
treated myself as divine treasure
relinquished sex as a performing act
fell in love with my own pleasure.
I grew disinterested in unavailability;
half-hearted lovers ceased to appeal
Now that I could give myself everything.
Summer after summer
I was paralyzed by dizzying fears;
“What if I get fired?”
“What if I gain weight?”
“What if they judge me?”
“What if they leave?”
But that one wild, electric summer
I embraced a world
of possibilities within maybe —
“Maybe I deserve better.”
“Maybe I do love my body.”
“Maybe their opinions don’t matter.”
“Maybe I’ll always have me.”
That summer
I did not stop feeling afraid
but I stopped choosing afraid
and in doing so,
I reclaimed life on my terms.
That was the summer that changed everything.
An ode to Native women
According to
my family, my culture, my teachings
women are the water carriers
the odemin pickers
the sacred, fasting for ceremony
Native women are the beaders
the teachers
the singers
the leaders
showing our communities how to
walk through life purposefully.
With heartbeat drums
handmade earrings
and braided hair
Anishinaabe kwe carry life generationally;
led by grandmother moon
and mother earth
to their children they pass down the teachings.
In tea time
and smudge breaks,
my aunties’ stories bring healing;
their laughter, a force to be reckoned with
proof that we’re still here, enduring.
I come from
a long line of strong women
who survived, against all odds
nookoomis, nimomma, me;
to mother earth
and to Native women
It is you to whom I owe everything.
Upholding my responsibilities means
being my mother’s keeper
as she is the keeper of me
but I cannot uphold my duties to her
If I am denied my becoming.
It is a cruel reality
that too often, we become
sisters in spirit
another red dress
a body murdered or missing;
women who never grow old
targeted for our existence.
Every Native woman
should have the chance to become
a beader, a singer, a healer, a leader
a daughter, a mother, an elder, an auntie;
but each kwe that is taken early
is a sacred gift denied her sanctity.
I have the privilege
Of not being murdered
Of not yet having gone missing
so until every kwe is brought home
and returned to loving arms
I will not stop speaking.
Search the landfill
and do not let their names
pass in vain:
Morgan Harris
Marcedes Myran
Rebecca Contois
Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe.
So what?
People have called her one her whole life
from before her sexual debut
through her dating journey
right into her committed relationship.
because that’s their defining insult right, slut.
As though what comes between her legs
could possibly ruin her
You see each new partner
as proof of promiscuity—
I see each as proof of
attention to consent,
flawless communication,
and perfect balance
between pleasures
given and received.
You teach her
to find disgust
in her own body
I find myself in awe of
the woman who
against all odds
taught herself
to take pride in
wearing it proudly.
When years of purity culture
taught her to wait until marriage
she taught herself to have sex
on her timeline,
whenever, however she likes.
When decades of slut shaming
taught her to feel
guilty about pleasure
as if it isn’t the most natural thing
in the world.
she refused
to be anything but
freaky / greedy / nasty
for her desires.
When you saw a slut
I see a woman undefined
by your defining insult
So what, if she’s a slut?
What if she is a slut,
and proud of it?
Then what?
The handbook
CW: Sexual Assault. If you require support after reading this, please reach out to one of the phone numbers listed here.
When asked at summer camp,
“Ladies, how many of you have been told
not to get r*ped?”
every girl in the room shot her hand up.
This was a pop quiz
we came prepared for.
We spill out safety suggestions
regurgitate rules like
check the backseat before you get in a car
always tell a friend where you plan to go
never wear headphones when walking alone.
We memorized the
“how to not get r*ped” handbook
thinking sexual assault
was the fault
of a few monsters
(strangers, of course)
lurking in shadows and alleyways
teeth gnashing, waiting to attack you.
We were told that being well educated
would protect us from what they perpetrated
but the handbook failed to mention
that most sexual assaults
happen inside of our homes,
commonly caused
by men we already know.
Discussions of r*pe
are often hush-hush
uncomfortable to confront
framed in abstract statistics
printed in freshman orientation handouts
addendums suggesting
“Call this office once you’ve lived it.”
I’ve read that
one third of women
will experience sexual violence
in her lifetime
that it is three times more likely
to happen to Indigenous women
that seventy six percent of bisexual women
have survived it
that having been a victim once
makes you more likely to be a victim again.
As a
queer / Indigenous / woman
crunching those numbers
makes me feel more
walking target than warrior
I’ve soon learned that survival
means keeping most of myself in the closet.
The handbook will not tell you
how to be a victim
half answers the question “what do I do?”
if (when) sexual assault happens to you.
It will tell you “no means no”
knowing you’ve never learned how to say it.
It will tell you to use your fight response
knowing how common it is to freeze in danger.
It will tell you to call nine one one right away
conveniently forgetting
that police do not keep us all safe.
The handbook will not tell you
how to preserve the evidence
I learned through experience that
you should get your r*pe kit done day of
file your report within six months
keep the clothing in which it happened
and avoid washing your shame off in the shower.
Six months may seem
like enough time to make up your mind
but it took me nine
to hear his name and my name
and r*pe in the same sentence
without crying.
The “how to not get r*ped” handbook
will try to convince you
that being assaulted
is synonymous with being broken.
Too often, the story narrated for us
is a biography
bound in a two chapter cage
before assault and after assault
reduced to damaged goods girls
instead of channeling our outrage.
As someone who memorized the
handbook’s every last rule
as someone who still got r*ped
I’m telling you now that
this has always been a game rigged
for women’s bodies to lose.
Rape culture, not the existence of women
is the issue that needs to be dealt with
even when
especially when
it means whatever bullshit
any victim-blaming handbook
had to say
gets burnt down
in the process.
Baby, solidarity
The cop car slows down
and we both freeze
My baby pulls over
parks the car
puts his hands up
clutches the keys.
The officer says “Good evening,
How's your night going?”
oblivious
to our shaking
My baby says politely
“Very well sir”
while I wince
at the Native man
who looks like my uncle
in the back seat.
I’m not religious
but I pray to God
for the officer to let us go free
“Did you know your tail light’s burnt out?”
he asks,
“No sir, I didn’t” I reply,
“Do I owe you any fees?”
“No” the officer replies,
“Just get it checked out tomorrow”
We both breathe sighs of relief when he leaves.
My baby and I don’t use self-check-out
when we buy groceries
Because we’ve been chased down the street
told to give back what we haven’t paid for
experienced how degrading
It is to dig a receipt
out of a trash can unclean.
No one had seen
us check out
meaning
they saw a Black man with a Native woman
And couldn’t help but assume
we must have been stealing.
I’m always proud to be with my baby
even when strangers
threaten our safety
to the man
who referred to my man
as a “******”
I hope you soon shift
your racist ideology
Because if everyone loved like my baby
then oppression
would cease to exist
and everyone could be set free.
As a mixed-race couple
I know
We can never count on
an unjust world
to make our struggles easy
But what we can count on
is each other
and in our shared struggles
there is solidarity.
The story gets better
CW: Binge drinking.
You tell me you heard I wrote a poem about you
Yes, I did write about my love
and your lies
and the pain they put me through
You’ve never been one for words
that did not put you on a pedestal
and my words become swords
the moment I mark them in pencil.
I admit, calling you for closure was a foolish thing to do
but there are things I need to say,
and I should not have to swallow them
the way I swallow shots poured by the coworker that kisses you
the way I swallow the tears caught in my throat in the bathroom
the way I go to that bar anyway, just to be close to you
only for you to pour me a water.
I do not water down my feelings for anyone
had you read the poem,
you would have known just how hard I fell for you
If a picture says a thousand words
then I loved you one thousand pictures worth
and now you’re asking me to delete them.
You say I always have to come out of scenarios with a story
that I’m a “cool girl”, I really am,
but that I need to stop making adventures out of normalcy
It’s true that a highlight reel can never show my genuity
that’s why I write “WE WERE REAL” every time I turn you into poetry.
If you want real,
I will pour you the cold, hard,
no mixed in, watered-down truth
Sometimes I forget that
constructive dialogue takes the listening of two
and sometimes I drink to forget the love I once knew
I’m sure you would have done anything to numb the pain
had you been in my shoes
All I ever wanted was an apology that didn’t sound like an excuse
but accountability has never been your strong suit.
I know you heard the poem about you
And if you did not like what you heard
then I promise I won’t write about you anymore
you’re a chapter of the past now
I refuse to make this chapter less than grandiose and exciting
Because this story gets better
the more I keep writing.
Note: This is an old poem; I’ve since established a much healthier relationship with alcohol, and am in my sober curious era.
When the man is what you want
When the man is what you want
(but not what you need)
He will make you feel like the only girl in the room
tell you you are so much more than pretty, hot and cool
ask if you knew there were fourteen thousand adjectives
to describe someone cute
say that when it comes to numbers,
your looks are a ten
and your personality a nine thousand.
He will drive you home
sit in your driveway while the radio hums low
dream up adventures with you for hours.
It may be November,
but he will make something inside of you bloom flowers.
His first gift to you will be a houseplant
“We can co-parent” he says,
under your watch, it dies.
You will think he would’ve been better at keeping it alive
considering the first time he holds your hand
is the first time you feel electrified.
Sparks will fly as you sit in his lap
gaze into his warm eyes in dim light
the conversation will flow like red wine
and when you tell him what your body has been through
you will both cry.
He will assure you that no matter what,
you deserve to be treated right.
You will stuff your infatuations into a mixtape
title it “there’s something so red wine about you”
you will add song titles like birthday candles,
wishes of wanting him behind each tune.
You will add A Moment Apart never wanting to spend one without him
My Favorite Part because that’s what he is to your day
Sound and Color because he makes you feel all of them
In an enthralling, encapsulating, all-encompassing way.
When the man is what you want
(but not what you need)
He will string you along with moments of dreamy reverie
Without following through on any of what he’s promising
He will come over at one and never stay until morning
But you will stay certain
that you want him to be your unravelling.
You will turn red flags into green lights
tune out your friends’ warnings
that this will not work out
eventually, it will scar you;
you will know they are right
but you will not be able to fight falling
when having him in your bed
is the first time you felt safe since being assaulted.
When you go home to visit family
he will call you twice that week to say he misses you
he will tell you he is sorry about his lack of availability lately
says “When you get back, we’ll go on an adventure, just you and me”
a string of words that have never sounded so sweet
a song from the mixtape will sum up your first night back perfectly lyrically
“Fell asleep on the sofa, but I’ve never felt closer to you”
When you wake up next to your brown-eyed lover
you will count his eyelashes, fifty-three on the right
you will feel a little crazy
but you think maybe, just maybe,
if you memorize the details of his face
there he can stay
unmarred by the world’s pain at your place.
That early summer night,
your plans will line up like fate.
Sitting in a blue lights lounge, dimly lit and draped
fabric hanging from the ceiling
giving the bar an intimate, ethereal feeling
for hours on hours, he will keep you laughing
and when he rests his head on his hands
eyelashes fluttering
you will be reminded
of just how hard you are falling.
That night when you have sex
it will be the closest you have been to someone
physically or emotionally
and you will fool yourself into thinking
that it is a matter of time until you start dating.
When you find out the truth
about the dates and adventures
he has with girls he puts before you
it will confirm every one of your worst anxieties:
That sleeping with you was his end goal
that winning your trust was his game strategy
that you were his sexual trophy.
When the man is what you want
and not what you need
he will not offer you an apology
and he’ll avoid any chance to
acknowledge that he hurt you deeply.
When you write the goodbye letter
you will say this:
I would have done anything for you,
object of my affection
but I refuse to compete with
anyone else for your attention.
You will know that he cannot be the man you need,
no matter how much you want him,
if he will not show you respect too.
What you won’t say,
is that even when you cross the street to avoid him
That doesn’t mean you don’t want him to come chasing after you
You love him, you miss him, you still do.
Note: This is an old poem, revamped many years later as a letter to my younger self.
Manifestations of divinity
Growing up taught me all about what sex should not be
So I want to share a message with anyone who grew up in trauma and hurting:
First, I need to remind you that you are worthy and deserving
of love, not the pain and abuse that this world has put you through
Your story is safe with me and I believe you
For the rest of my life, I will fight until we see the end of this injustice through
Second, there is nothing wrong with your body
You do not need to meet anyone’s illusionary standard of beauty
If someone deems you “too distracting”
That’s a them problem; they need to work on their attention span capacity
You have no need for others’ approval and validity
Because you and you alone define your sexuality
Third, you are entitled to your boundaries
Even if you don’t know what they are, or you don’t want to do anything
You have every single right to your own bodily autonomy,
That right is not a gift, a privilege, or an anomaly
No, getting asked what you like should be an every-time thing
If anyone lucky enough to be in your temple
They should treat you like royalty
Because if God is a woman,
then you are the manifestation of her divinity.
I’ve never kissed a friend and had the friendship last
Me and my go to girl
get ready for nights out
binge three am drunken takeout
laugh through late nights in the library.
Pop champagne when we celebrate
share ice cream to soothe heartache
call each other with details of first dates
sleepover enough
we’re practically roommates.
Me and my other half
are joined at the hip
finish each other’s sentences
see eye to eye on everything.
I call her soulmate
knowing she is the future
godmother of my children
nursing home bingo partner
maid of honor at my wedding.
My match made in heaven
I love her to death
I’ll love her until death
do us part.
I promise her forever
foolishly forgetting
how precipitously
I’ve stamped the word
on friendship.
My best-best-best friend
is so close to me
I can almost taste her
I probably would date her
If she asked
but like every other
soulmate
twin flame
and other half
has taught me
you can never kiss a friend
and have the friendship last.
Gorgeous gorgeous girls
Gorgeous gorgeous girls
were raised on
midriff-baring crop tops
low-rise jeans
America’s Next Top Model
and Cosmopolitan magazine.
Gorgeous gorgeous idols
emphasized
that one hundred and ten pounds
(or less)
was ideal.
Tyra asked
“Do you wanna be on top?”
Kate said
“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”
So gorgeous gorgeous girls
learned to sip on
coffee
green juice
and hustle culture
as replacements for their meals.
Gorgeous gorgeous girls
were told they could thrive on self-deprivation
as long as they took it seriously.
so gorgeous gorgeous girls
pulled their hair back
put their heads down
and gave their all
to trying so hard
to be a
girlboss
and a
cool girl
simultaneously.
We wonder why
gorgeous gorgeous girls
become
gorgeous gorgeous women
with anorexia
and anxiety–
forgetting that
gorgeous gorgeous girls
were told
they could “have it all”
and heard
that in the process
they had to lose themselves
entirely.
A love letter to my body
It all begins with an idea.
Dear body,
Today marks the end of an era.
I have wasted much of our short time together
depriving you of nourishment,
pushing you to meet illusionary standards of beauty,
hoping others would validate your worth;
I know now that there is no need to apologize
for the space you take up.
For years I refused to feed you.
I thought if I kept myself busy with extracurriculars,
I would forget the ache of an empty stomach.
Pushed to the brink of anxiety attacks and exhaustion,
because I didn’t want to listen to your pleas for rest.
I am reminded, now and forevermore,
that you have always known my limits better than I do.
Too many times, you have been made to feel
like little more than an object.
You are not someone’s second choice,
late night company,
or “not now, but maybe one day”.
Many times I have blamed us
for wandering hands,
but the selfishness of other people
has never been your fault.
Despite what I or anyone else has done to hurt you,
you still wake me each morning
with a million things to be grateful for.
You allow me to watch hundreds of sunsets,
dance with reckless abandon,
and embrace each and every person I love.
So from this moment on,
I choose to love you, exactly the way that you are.
Though it sometimes feels as though they do,
no one has the power to take this home out of our hands.
That is something I will fight for,
now and forevermore.
With love,
Your mind.