Freespace

Two new poems

1. On A Line by Derek Walcott

Only the dead can endure it in Paradise.—Derek Walcott

Am I not a woman and a sister?

You must read this powerful and moving testament by an ex-Muslim woman about how it feels to be free. Especially you women. So many of your sisters are in chains--or in veils--around the globe. How can the voices of Justice and Liberty (always depicted as women) not cry out as one? Women have the most to gain from freedom, and the most to lose when privacy, autonomy, property rights, economic freedom, freedom to read and to speak, are crushed.

Had I seen this essay before the Fourth, I'd have supplemented our reading of the Declaration with it. It deserves a place with Douglass' "What to The Slave is The Fourth of July?" So much remains to be done, but what a joy for those of us who are (relatively) free to celebrate and reflect upon our freedom.

Why I love A.E. Stallings

I missed these two poems back in May.