Rizza

“purple threaded evening. a torn goddess laying on the roof. milk sky. lavender hued moan against hot asphalt. the thickness of evening presses into your throat. polaroids taped to the ceiling. ivy pouring out of the cracks in the wall. i found my courage buried beneath molding books and forgot to lock the door behind me. the old house never forgets. opened my mouth and a dandelion fell out. reached behind my wisdom teeth and found sopping wet seeds. pulled all of my teeth out just to say i could. he drowned himself in a pill bottle and the orange really brought out his demise. lay me down on a bed of ground spices. there’s a song there, i know it. amethyst geode eyes. cracked open. no one saw it coming.
october never loved you.
the moon still doesn’t understand that.”
― Taylor Rhodes, calloused: a field journal

“She is brave and strong and broken all at once. As she speaks it is as if her existence is no longer real to her in itself, more like a living epitaph to a life that was.”
― Anna Funder, Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall

“In the history of the earth, the sun remains still.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita

“WHAT IS TRUTH?

Truth is not a thing
Or a concept.
It is as multidimensional
In its meaning
As it is in its reflection.
It is both invisible
And visible.
It carries tons of weight,
But can be carried.
It is understood first through the spirit
Before science,
And felt in the heart,
Before the mind.
Truth is not always heard by reason,
Because reason sometimes
Ignores Truth.

Always listen to your conscience.
Your conscience is your heart
And reason is your mind.
Your mind is simply there to reason
With your heart.
But remember,
Truth is in your heart,
And only through your heart
Can you connect to the light of God.
He who is not motivated by his heart
Will not see Truth,
And he who thinks only with his mind
Will be blind to Truth.
He who does not think
With his conscience,
Does not stand by God,
For the language of light
Can only be decoded by the heart.
He who reads and recites words of God
Also does not stand by God –
If he merely understands
Words with his mind
But not his heart.

Truth is black and white,
And the entire spectrum
Of colors in-between.
It can have many parts,
But has a solid foundation.
Truth lacks perfection,
For it is the reflection of all,
Yet its reflection as a whole,
Is more beautiful
Than the accumulated flaws
Of the small.
Truth is the only brand
Worth breathing
And believing.
So stand for truth
In everything you do,
And only then
Does your life have
Meaning.


Poetry by Suzy Kassem”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem