I believe that after anger
there is a beautiful place to be—
a place of peace.

Like on a day of heavy rain,
thunder and lightning,
if we could only fly
above the storm,

we would see that the sun
never stopped shining.

It was there all along—
we just couldn’t see it.

a person with an unimaginable power to fall, rise, and keep going.
a person who cries, who suffers, who feels the seismic shakes of life and is still here
in the land of the living.
a person who can be whoever they want to be.
a person who can be light and love.

Like bubbles in a glass of untouched soda water, waiting for eager lips to bring them to life,
My passion shrank and sank with shame beneath the weight of your indifference, fizzling away into oblivion.
The bouquet of roses, I had carefully picked out to greet you,
Lost its fragrance as the aging petals crumbled into dark dust.
Every time I lit a candle, its flickering light became a constant reminder of the lingering question: Why wasn't my light enough?

Poets are glowsticks,
snapped,
then they fluoresce.

Liquid light.
Blood of the lightning bug,
squashed and smeared.
Nearly extinct.

Bleed and glow.

The cuts of forever promised,
instead,
they siphoned.

Distilled into purple-red neon,
spelling out:

read me.
know I’ve lost.

Let me do to you what has been done:

Love to heart
Day to night
Light to darkness
Rain to earth

Bees to flower
Water to fish
Books to mind
Oxygen to lung

Beauty to eyes
Kindness to people
Fire to surroundings
Moon to night sky

Medicine to pain
Poetry to soul
Flute to ears
Spring to the tree


Hussein Dekmak

i wish to be as
beautiful as the
moon

it's light a beacon
a pale silhouette
magical

i wish to be as
beautiful as the
moon

for the moon cares not
for admirers or
fame

it glimmers eternally
in the dark
midnight

I used to believe I wanted to be like water.
Water that melds into any shape.
Water that is relaxing and peaceful.
Water that, when given enough time, can cut through anything.
But now I realize I want to be like fire.
Fire that gives warmth and comfort.
Fire that burns fast, creating its own path.
Fire that gives light in total darkness,
Giving you an opportunity to find your way out.
Water is used.
Fire is untamable.