Babe's Phoenix

Mother whose despair is like

Acrid smoke of burnt flesh

Surrounds her nightly course of fresh

Baked corpses, whose breaths are a pike

Of fear that death is near,

But she carries hope on her hip

Cradled against her breast, a trip

She makes daily carrying life, as sear

Of a future, a Phoenix from the ash

Rises in the form of the innocent

Babe she holds, close to heart, bent

On giving it her life's blood, brash

In the knowledge that her milk

Will sustain it while it syphons

Her health as nutrients, tons

Are unavailable, and sacrifice is silk

For her baby to grow on,

A Phoenix born from fire, passion,

Compassion, empathy, a fashion

That enrobes the babe, soar and don

Its fiery feathers on display,

A life lived with dignity, glory,

Unparalleled beauty that's never gory

Rather, it's fascinating, never grey

Full of life where freedom

Expires in the ashes of

The Phoenix's Rise, newly born, stuff

Of myth and legends alike ends' never come.

*****

A Canadian who is a survivor of two civil wars, Ghana and Lebanon,

Malak K. Chehab is the survivor of being transplanted into three

different continents as a child, witnessing violence, racism, segregation,

defamation, inequality, injustice and more. Growing into childhood,

the experiences she endured shaped her into a strong mother, protector

who again went through upheavals of war. Those events shaped her opinions,

which now have an outlet in her writings and poetry. She hopes to share

her experiences in order to connect and alleviate the stresses of immigration,

as well as to create a connection to a life of most post-colonials.

She has published her poetry book, "Perfectly Flawed" and "Romancing Time",

A Letter, published in the Unsealed, Unseal Your Worth, Unseal Your Story, 2 poems

in the anthology, "Unseal Your Greatness/Worth", 4 poems in Alien Buddha Press,

6 in her poetry archive and 1 in Petal Projections Magazine, 3 issues, # 8, 9 and 11.

You can read more about Malak at her website

ILA Magazine