Behind her
A mountain of ashes rise
Tall, venomous
Encompasses a year’s worth of darkness
that took residence in her bloodstream
and infected every inch of her body
The rubble of desires now gray dust
Behind her.
While now
she saunters delicately into still waters–
Knows what’s ahead won’t be perfect,
but goes anyway
courageously
seeking the next piece to photograph and keep as her own.
Sonia Chintha is an Indian American writer who lives in the Washington DC area. She blogs, writes poetry, and fiction. She is also an English teacher who believes that our experiences teach us more than any test. She is the founder and co-editor of Good Little Girls.
“It’s a hard place to leave but an even harder place to live.” –Papa F aka PG’s philosopher dad. I know for a few days
The first time I saw the words “ms. chintha is a bitch” inked on to walls, I was 29 years old. I had been teaching for a mere four years, but felt so veteran already because I had stopped crying when fights happened in or near my classroom among students. Up until my fourth year, I blamed myself for not creating a safe enough space for my students and that’s why they began fighting.
Soloing around town, the wind spirals through her hair, lifts the bottom edge of her dress and her skin is alive. She had forgotten–this side