In Flight – A ‘Dream Zine’ Poem

(Today’s piece is a short poem by guest contributor Thais Angelica Tavares Lopes. Thais Angelica is my oldest daughter. Her varied background encompasses a range of subjects, including art instruction, drawing, sewing, dress designing, convention-hopping, and creative writing.)

Massive wings like  

thick umbrellas, 

 heaving,  

pounding,  

lit by dusk. 

Muscles dance rhythmically  

under sleek, scarlet scales, 

as if listening to a barely  

audible beat by the Muses.  

  Mysterious, hulking power  

 pulsates opulent pleasures  

through the air.  

Morose, clear eyes track every motion, 

foreseeing all and 

welcoming their fate. 

Majestic ivories gleam and glint 

like royal gems, 

unchanged by centuries 

 of constant use. 

Monsters of firmament; 

 such are dragons.  

Making their way through the mundane, 

like a stealthy caravan of kings, 

basking in the glory of their ways. 

Magnificent in their flight, 

all beware their might! 

Copyright © 2023 by Thais A. Lopes 

“Women, Life, Freedom”

(Today’s piece is a timely poem by guest contributor Thais Angelica Tavares Lopes. Thais Angelica is my oldest daughter. Her varied background encompasses a range of subjects, including art instruction, drawing, sewing, dress designing, convention-hopping, and creative writing.)

“Women, Life, Freedom”

Jackals circle their prey,

mouths salivating, eyes penetrating, noses captivating.

They pounce and tear the flesh off the unassuming rabbit.

They leave her battered, shattered, and scattered.

We knew they were dangerous,

but to murder our sister…

No more dreams, only streams of tears, and screams.

Rabbits screech in confusion, in delusion, in exclusion.

Contorting themselves in their grief.

Why have the jackals come for them, for her?

The clever rabbits take to the streets and rally together.

And the masses shout

Women, Life, Freedom!

The jackals continue to pick them off,

burdening some, discouraging more, and murdering others.

Yet the rabbit’s do not cease.

Day and night they gather, they clamor, they yammer.

And the jackals run scared.

All the rabbits they unite, they fight, they ignite.

And the jackals run scared.

Never quitting, they hope, they grope, they smote.

And the jackals run scared.

Let the jackals run, dear rabbits,

for you have already won.

Thais Lopes