originally published at https://borgenproject.org/hope-for-stopping-period-poverty-in-bhutan/ Surrounded by soaring Himalayan peaks in South Asia, Bhutan has been cited as a “development success story” by the World Bank. The country offers its people the option to reflect on whether or not they receive happiness in nine key areas. From psychological well-being to health, good governance, and culture, leaders of the “Land of the Thunder […]
The last thing I pack before a trip is my soul. I stick my tongue out, peel it off my taste buds, and pull it out from my throat. It burns as snow does, a chain of handkerchiefs with my every memory embroidered all over, with threads pulled from the inside my cheeks. I place it in my jewelry box […]
In a desert of ash, I left my body behind. I climb out of my skeleton from my skull, my bones break in half and fall at my sides, and my skin pools around them, cushioning my fall. I know it is still there, waiting for me to come back, but it will never happen. It awaits, blank still blinking […]
Prologue I have a heart for every soul I have ever morphed into. Family members are all alike, at least this family is. They are all the same version of the same person. And I am them. I exist only to show them their worst selves, their truest selves, whether they want to see it or not. To pick at […]
‘wake up Aurora, for the first time in your life.’ Born asleep in the last few minutes of daylight. Hair embroidered with petals descends from her tower’s window, locks of all shades of blonde as the sun and the years have lighten them. She is asleep but feels every second, day, and year that isn’t hers. Aurora, the moment you […]
The Earth laughs in dew-coated daisies, but it cries with the last leaves to depart a rotting oak. It screams in a sudden gust of wind that makes your ears ring, just after you have torn apart the last buttercup of a summer field. So, I ask you to look around. Do you see peace in this world? Salt covered […]
Build this life by yourself, piece by piece, and then watch it burn like it’s made of matchsticks. In mere seconds, it’s all gone. Fly away, try again, repeat the same mistakes, say goodbye one more time. Eventually, you stop trying, nothing matters. Fall to the ground, your wings break off. Melt into the ground as you clutch them close […]
I wake up to the moon screaming. If I can hear her, then it’s too late. An anklet and laces of blood, my skin shreds. She calls for me, the more I resist, the more it will hurt, so I walk outside and stain each cobblestone black. My moon, I look at you and offer myself. Stitch my skin or […]
Born mere minutes after her sister, and seconds after the sun set, Jour always belonged to the night. “One for day, one for night, one for dreams, and one for true life.” “Never sleep, may your fingertips always be pierced.” Separated in two different towers, Jour’s faced west, bathing in starlight. Alone, Jour spent a hundred years. Never aging, never […]
When I was a child I got lost in a shopping center. Surrounded by living statues, while standing perfectly still. I looked up at the fake airplane that hung from the ceiling, and instead saw a banner made of cement, over a gallery I had never seen before. “They are coming” it read, an engraving of hands holding a megaphone […]