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Salt

Poetry from Embers.

from between the teeth of mothers

history has been stolen,

stolen by men and decay, 

by fate — 

a cruel mother to us all.

mothers, 

tell me how to prosper

on earth scorched, to remove the last trace of you 

how to sustain myself

on air singed with smoke. 

mother, tell me

where is there safety, 

the earth cannot save us

the men violate her too,

she has been suffering for far longer than I

and I am far too small to help her. 

the only solace comes in musings of the time to come,

when womanhood is not shaped by terror

when our daughters will know safety;

in sovereign skin, under sovereign skies

and when beneath them, the earth can rest gently once more.