We Will Not Be Silenced – Georgiann Carlson

Men believe they can control and silence women through violence and

unjust laws

but the bodies of dead women continue to  speak to us

even when they can no longer form words of protest 

even when their hearts are no longer beating

even as their blood pools on filthy basement floors

they speak

this is what happens when freedom is ripped away

this is what happens when men demand the right to control a woman’s

body

this is what happens when choice is no longer ours

this is what hatred, discrimination and inequality looks like

it looks like death

remember

“I took this photograph in Washington DC, during a pro choice rally, years ago. Nothing changes.  As a feminist, I’ve been fighting for the same things all my life. As long as men have complete control over our lives, we will never be free. Which, of course, is their entire point.”

Georgiann Carlson

I’m an artist, a writer, a vegetarian, an animal rights activist, and quite a few other things as well. I love books, cats, philosophy, good conversation, Chicago and the arts. So my blog is full of bits and pieces but it’s the bits and pieces that make life interesting to me. You can read more of my writing at Rethinking Life

4,200 GOOD INDIANS? – Robert G. Wertzler

They are counted

so says the news

called “Cold Cases”

found dead

or gone missing

all unsolved

barely, or not

investigated

I remember how long ago

someone (many?) defined

“a good Indian”

I wonder how many

still agree enough

to be unconcerned

about these silenced voices

ignoring the voices of their kin

who are not silent

who, among the conquerors

will join in saying

We will not be silenced?

Photo by Manny Becerra on Unsplash

Bob Wertzler is retired from nearly twenty years in the mental health field both in California and Arizona. There are times the title, “Recovering Therapist,” seems to fit. In 2006 Bob retired (again) to move to western North Carolina to help and become the primary caregiver for his father who had developed Dementia. Before all that, there was much work at various times as a soldier (US Army 196770), community organizer, cab driver, welfare case worker, wooden toy maker, carpenter, warehouse worker, among other things. He relates to a line in a Grateful Dead song, “What a long, strange trip it’s been” But there is a life beyond work and keeping fed, clothed, and sheltered, and for him that has been much involved with reading, writing, and listening. He learned to read and love books from his father reading to him at bedtime and gradually transitioning to Bob doing the reading. It was not generally those things called “children’s books” that he remembers most, although there must have been some. Instead, his sharpest memories are of the works of Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson (what six-year- old boy wouldn’t want to meet a real pirate like Long John Silver?), Robert Heinlein, Louis Carroll, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway (age seven, devouring The Old Man And The Sea), and many others. Nothing school presented could hold a candle to those storytellers. Bob credits whatever skill he has as a writer to those experiences and those examples absorbed as if by osmosis. One more favorite, this, from Bob Dylan: “he not busy being born is busy dying.” His recently published poetry collection, The Comment Poems is available at Lulu in paperback and eBook formats.

Connect with Bob online: WordPress / Facebook /LinkedIn:

We Will Not Be Silenced – Patricia Harris

Alt Text:

In the world where

Being meek is seen

As the good thing,

Often the ignorant

Thinks it means

We should be seen

And not heard.

Our voice is part

Of who we are meant to be.

We will not be silenced,

We will continue to live free.

Meekness has its place

And in this life

All have a right

To be what

They want to be.

But forced meekness

Is just another erasure

Of truth in a society

Built on lies.

Patricia Harris is a dreamer, crafter, gamer, and digital artist who loves creativity in life. A half-mad poet, her writing is found all over social media and various other websites. She is a devoted mom who can be found doing a variety of art when she isn’t penning poetry and writing words. She is owner of the indie publishing company Fae Corps publishing. Her collection of writings includes two memoirs, a book on writing, several children’s books, and poetry. For more from Patricia, check her out Facebook or Pattimouse .

Her books are all listed on Books2Read.

we will not be silenced – Candice Louisa Daquin

tu dois me croire. (you need to believe me)

the teacher looks down at my 8-year-old handwriting

i never could spell well in French it’s true

she squints at the words, describing abuse

like they are hard to understand

then carefully, with her lips pursed, fingers suspended

in air briefly like just before you begin to play at the piano

she tapes the two pages of my poem about being molested

by my grandfather, closed and puts my book in the pile

to give back at the end of the day.

alfatayat alsaghirat yakdhibuna.!! (little girls lie)

my grandfather’s Arabic smelt like cigar and pachouli

ילדות קטנות לא משקרות !! (little girls do not lie)

My grandmother’s Hebrew smelt like empty drawers and lost things

the ash of my heart is still in those taped pages

black and rotten and voiceless it sits, waiting to be unpeeled

and let loose into this world of suppression

not much has changed since then, we are still being

obliterated, silenced, ruined by the disbelief of those

purporting to care for us, pretending to listen, therapists

friends, family, teachers, employers, each one a sharp

quill in our throat as we, collectively, too many of us

bodies upon bodies upon bodies, try in multiple languages

from every continent, in every color, every gender, every kind

of wound, to find a way

to not be silenced by your inability

to hear the truth.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

Born in Europe, Candice Louisa Daquin is of Sephardi French/ Egyptian descent. Daquin was the Publishing Director at the U.S. Embassy (London) before becoming a Psychotherapist. Daquin is Senior Editor at Indie Blu(e) Publishing, a feminist micro-press and Editorial Partner with Raw Earth Ink. She’s also Writer-in-Residence for Borderless Journal, Editor of Poetry & Art for The Pine Cone Review and Poetry Editor for Parcham Literary Magazine. Daquin’s own poetic work takes its form from the confessional women poets of the 20th century as well as queer authors writing from the 1950’s onward. Her career(s) teaching critical thinking and practicing as a psychotherapist have heavily influenced her writing. As a queer woman of mixed ethnicity and passionate feminist beliefs concerning equality, Daquin’s poetry is her body of evidence.

Read more at The Feathered Sleep.

Daily Creativity Prompt – We Will Not Be Silenced

We Will Not Be Silenced: The Lived Experience of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Told Powerfully Through Poetry, Prose, Essay, and Art

In honor of its 5th anniversary, Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless are teaming up this November to sponsor a series of 30 daily creativity prompts, comprised of the titles of our 25 published books and four upcoming titles, along with a couple fun phrases to round it out. We think our book titles are pretty damn cool and we hope they spark your creativity. You are welcome to respond to as many that inspire you.

There is only one rule to the prompt challenge: the book title or phrase should serve as the title of your piece OR all the words in the title should be integrated into your piece somehow.   

Note: Some of IB books have fabulous subtitles. Want an extra challenge? Try integrating the subtitle into your response

It is our honor and pleasure to publish your prompt responses on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless . We welcome poetry, prose, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, essays, and high-res original art inspired by the prompts.

How to Submit

  • Email your submission to indieblucollective@gmail.com
  • Writing can be submitted in the body of the email or as a separate Word document or PDF
  • If you are submitting writing, please include a suggested image to accompany your work. Unsplash and Pixabay are two of our favorite sites for royalty-free images.
  • Your email should include your name EXACTLY as you want it to appear on Indie Blu(e) Publishing and Brave & Reckless, a short biography, and any links you want shared.

We Will Not Be Silenced: The Lived Experience of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Told Powerfully Through Poetry, Prose, Essay, and Art is the brainchild of Kindra M. Austin, Candice Louisa Daquin, Rachel Finch, and Christine E. Ray. The four indie writers and survivors felt compelled to organize a response after wide-spread, highly publicized cases of rape, sexual harassment, and misconduct. They chose to advocate, educate, and resist through art. The editors opened submissions for just two weeks to women and men around the world. The response from writers and artists was overwhelming: the final anthology includes 166 pieces of writing and art from 95 contributors around the globe.

“We Will Not Be Silenced‘ is a beautiful collection of devastating pieces, it is a siren call to survivors everywhere, and a book that should be showcased in every school, stocked on the shelves of every hospital, and sitting on the counters in every police station in the world. ‘We Will Not Be Silenced’ should simply be available to everyone and anyone who has ever been violated, and to everyone and anyone who would be brave enough to speak out and speak up in an era when victims still aren’t being heard.”

–Nicole Lyons, The Lithium Chronicles Volume One and Two

To purchase We Will Not Be Silenced click here.