MALAK KALMONI CHEHAB

 

 

Reflection In The Mirror

 

Her hazel eyes look into the mirror,

What she sees is a wonder.

In the reflection, 'La Vie en Rose'

Covered with a pinkish screen as she pose.

 

She lifts her hand, extends her index,

Grazes across the glittery surface, that's a fox,

Wily and intent on showing her only

Beauty, utopia, family, and community,

 

Trying haughtily to impose a vision

Of fidelity, that's as wrotten a passion

As Eve's apple; who thought it would

Impower her with Knowledge, Immortality

 

When, in reality, it highlighted her

Faults and sexuality through a picture

Of nudity and immorality.

Her curiosity, pride were her downfall from all heavenly.

 

The gorgeous woman's gaze turned

Inward, subconscious awareness aged

With centuries of data, she becomes

Cognizant of the struggles of generations

 

That tried not to give her her power.

The power of a woman that'll never

Let pride, shame, sex be the means used

 

For her destruction that stays unpardoned.

 

She's swiftly swung into a new

Path, where women are revered, as few

Are, for their strengths, nurturer,

Culture, and self-awareness that is a propeller

 

Into an age of her distinction, acceptance,

Integration, and sociopolitical presence.

A long journey whence she grew

Out of a subjugation in a pew.

 

Veiled Butterfly

 

Her veil of flowers and butterflies

Flit around her head as her eyes

Wander into the night skies.

 

Her beauty shines through

Her astounding eyes of blue,

Framed by lashes of a brownish hue.

 

Her rosy lips stutter with each

Winged flap, trying vainly to catch

The flight of the butterfly and latch

 

Onto its fringes and take flight

 

With her fantasms in direct conflict

With reality's nightmarish bite.

 

Her lashes flutter as her revelry

Into a utopian wonder clashes sensibly

With a reality where her veil is horribly

 

Marred by Stereotypes that bind

Perceptions of beauty of the mind

To terrorist activities that make you grind

 

Your frustrations for a lack of understanding

And communication that's building

Roadblocks that inhibit freedom of living.

 

Dystopia

 

I've always been a peaceful utopian

Who loves my pink tinted glasses

That reflect my subconscious' unseen

Need for perfection that cleanses,

 

Bares the pomposity of people's

Conflicts into its squelettal structure,

Eliminating all propensity of pretensions

Of superiority over Others whose race, culture

 

Differs from one's own,

As their need for power scatters

In the wind, when peoples are blown

Away by their own unity in the face of adversities.

 

'A unit is as weak or strong as

It's weakest or strongest link',

Is what is usually said, and the truth is,

That its veracity is accurately depicted in a blink.

 

The wink that binds our words

Into contracts that are unbreakable

In their potency to inflict changes

Honored by helping hands that're audible.

 

MALAK KALMONI CHEHAB

 

MALAK KALMONI CHEHAB is a Canadian survivor, writer who's overcome 2 Civil Wars, Ghana and Lebanon, living on 3 continents with a great variety of cultures, religions, and races. These all left an impact on her and are expressed in her writing to voice her feelings, frustrations, and rebellion against ingrained Stereotypes and degradation of the human condition. She has published: Perfectly Flawed-poetry for change, that was on the finalist list for the Canadian Book Club Awards 2023, a poem in 'Unseal Your Greatness' another in 'Unseal Your Worth', 'Oh Woman' in ArLiJo issue 187, Avid Reader for Canadian Book Club Awards and Canadian authors.