Mirror Girl

It was a quiet night

And rain fell

Harshly.

Droplets hit my skin like acid,

Burning through me.

Tearing my arms

And legs

And neck.

I wondered how the raindrops

Could be better than his hands

When they both

Hurt

So

Much.

Lightning struck

Infusing my brain

With the memories

That used to be reality.

They left me shaking,

Gasping for air.

As if his hands were around my throat again- it could happen.

I crawled up to the mirror,

But quickly stumbled back.

It wasn’t me.

Her hair.

Her eyes.

Her skin.

Were all mine

But they were untainted

Still untouched

Unchanged.

Did I really ever

Look like

That?

Did I really ever

Feel like

That?

I sat alone with a strange girl.

Fingers reached into my mind

As I struggled to find a picture of the girl

Some sort of evidence

Of a time that was.

Before.

In the musty hallways

With rusty frames

And happy pictures

I found my fountain pen.

The one given as a gift

From my mother on my tenth birthday.

Grasping tightly,

Hands shaking,

I pulled it out.

I began to cover her with ink.

Recalling the words

That had been taken from me.

Ink flowed.

Love, hate

Honesty.

Flowing freely from the tip of my pen.

Over my scars,

A testament to her untorn skin.

The words of caution attempting to penetrate

The inpenatrable time.

My hands grasping her flesh,

Reaching out to her

Trying to reach the mind I knew

Was about

To be

Shattered against the kitchen counter

Pounded into the walls

Stolen.

On her neck,

The words she wished she could say on her own.

“You don’t own me

Anymore.”

“I’ve found my voice

Again.”

“My heart is bigger

Now.”

On the bruises,

A lesson on respect

Advocacy

Self- love.

A redaction of guilt.

On her feet,

Still rubbed raw by rough cement

And bike pedals,

Tales of newfound

Freedom.

I took a step back.

And saw myself again.

I was covered in bruises

And scars.

I ran my fingers over them

They were familiar

I was home.

I am home.

Heart Valentine Sad Broken Broken Heart Love Girl. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 May 2017.

Amir's Past and Present

When Amir is in America with his wife, Soraya, he pretends that he has nothing to hide about Afganistan. He puts in deep roots by getting married and establishing a career in America and puts on a strong, confident facade like the trunk of the tree. Little does Soraya know that Amir has sensitive parts of him that are still weak after all this time represented by the flowers on the tree.

A Death Epidemic

75% of all AIDs deaths currently occur in South Africa. (HIV) HIV is a sexually transmitted disease that currently is causing a massive amount of death. Anybody can be infected with HIV, however, there are certain people who are more at risk than others.

Women are especially at risk for HIV because of harassment and sugar daddies. Due to rape culture and misogyny, it is not uncommon for women to be sexually harassed. In sexual scenarios where women are not consenting, a condom is less likely to be used and therefore, HIV is more likely to be spread. It is not surprising that women often do not receive help from local police officers and other officials concerning sexual assault, considering that 70% of women who are sex workers have been sexually harassed by police officers. How can women be expected to get help from people that they watch take advantage of some of the weakest members of society? Women are also put in a difficult position when approached by sugar daddies who prefer unprotected sex. Having a relationship that fundamentally relies on the exchange of sexual acts for money, leads to one partner often engaging in riskier sexual acts that they wouldn’t otherwise be involved in. Money can be hard to come by as a woman because of inequality in the workplace. Many women who are submissive to their partner sexually in exchange for money use the money to buy items they wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford in order to fit the gender roles society has imposed onto them. A large amount of these women also use this money to feed drug addictions that they would be otherwise unable to sustain. (HIV) Money and physical force can cause women to engage in unsafe sex and lead to the spread of HIV and AIDS.

Certain members of the LGBT community are also more at risk for HIV. Men who have sex with men are the first group drastically affected by HIV. Due to lingering homophobic social stigmas, gay and bisexual men do not always have the same access to condoms and sexual education that straight men have. Within the queer community, transgender people, specifically trans women are most likely to be infected with AIDS. In fact, trans women are 49 times more likely to get HIV than anyone else. Social stigma has a lot to do with this statistic as well. Trans people who are unable to get jobs, often resort to sex work. Due to the high coast of transitionary surgeries, trans sex workers may choose to engage in unprotected sex in order to earn more money. Trans people who acquire hormones on their own, may inject them with needles. These needles are often shared so HIV can be spread this way as well. (Transgender)

There are currently 7 million people in South Africa suffering from HIV and despite efforts from the government, there has been no substantial change in this number. Officials and civilians in South Africa must learn to work together in order to defeat this problem.

Works Cited

Anonymous. "HIV/Aids in South Africa." Anonymous. N.p., 21 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

"HIV and AIDS in South Africa." AVERT. N.p., 01 Dec. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

"Transgender People, HIV and AIDS." AVERT. N.p., 01 May 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.

Broken Spectacles, Broken Buffalo

Buffalo

Main Ideas/ Argument

The buffalo in the books is a symbol representing Four-Eyes depriving his “friends” of their intellectual liberty. When the buffalo is present, Four- Eyes’ true influence over Luo and the narrator is revealed. We constantly see that Four- Eyes’ has something that makes him more powerful than the other boys. The first time we see the buffalo, Four- Eyes’ glasses break and it is revealed that he holds a object of influence and power: the books. The next time we see the buffalo, it is when Four- Eyes is leaving the village. We see that when the buffalo is present, Four- Eyes gains power over his friends because of the intellectual liberty he holds. This means that the buffalo is a symbol of the fact that intellectual liberty is power.

Quotes

“The buffalo was still alive. I will never forget how affected I was by its long drawn-out, plaintive blows. Under normal circumstances the bellow of a buffalo is disagreeably harsh, but on this calm late summer’s day the sound echoing through the rocky mountains was imposing and sonorous, like the roaring of a lion in a cage.” (93)

“The poetess was nowhere to be seen. What would she have thought if she had been there with us to watch her son bury his face in his cupped hands and slurp the clotted buffalo blood, like a swine rooting in the mire? When he had finished he sucked his fingers one by one, to make sure not a drop was wasted. As he made his way up the steep incline I noted he was still smacking his lips to prolong the taste.” (94)

“They sat side by side, hunched over the bamboo-leaf hat filled with buffalo blood.

“What are they doing down there?” I asked the man standing next to me. “They’re waiting for the blood to congeal,” he replied. “It’s a remedy against cowardice. To gain courage, you must swallow it when it’s still lukewarm and frothy” (93-94).

Four-Eyes’ Glasses

Main Ideas/ Arguments

Four-Eyes’ glasses represent the coming of age during this novel. We can see that as the boys come of age as they begin to be motivated by their loss, rather than simply sulk about it. As soon as we see that Four-Eyes loses something, the boys begin to manipulate each other in order to get what they want: intellectual liberty. We can also observe the fact that as the boys come of age their motives become more clear and they have more to lose and gain.

The loss of Four-Eyes’ glasses could also represent him losing his humility and revealing his true nature. At first, when Four-Eyes’ glasses fall and he begins to search for them, the narrator immediately enters the area intent on assisting Four-Eyes. However, the narrator describes, “Four-Eyes was not eager for me to help search for his spectacles, fearing that I would be a hindrance,” which reveals a great deal about Four-Eyes’ character. His wanting to search by himself and not have the help of others shows that he is solely focused on himself, and he does not want others to get in the way of him being able to eventually go back to the city. After the narrator unintentionally steps on Four-Eyes glasses, he states, “Fortunately they were still in one piece,” which shows how the narrator had truly had good intentions and it glad that he did not make Four-Eyes’ life more difficult by causing his glasses to be even more destroyed.

Four Eyes’ glasses also end up showing the power he has. While the narrator and Luo are unable to contact their families, Four-Eyes has been able to write to his mother, who is sending him new glasses. This shows that he has more power in their community than the narrator and Luo have because while the narrator and Luo only have each other to rely on for support in their harsh situation, Four-Eyes is able to have support from his mother back at home which gives him an advantage in the situation.

Quotes

“I took off my shoes, rolled up my trousers and stepped into the paddy field, leaving Luo seated by the wayside. Four-Eyes was not eager for me to help search for his spectacles, fearing that I would be a hindrance, but in the end it was I who stepped on them inadvertently as I groped in the mud. Fortunately they were still in one piece.” (47)

“I’ve written to my mother. She’s going to send me a new pair as soon as possible, but I can’t sit and do nothing until they arrive. I’ve got to work, that’s what I’m here for. At least that’s what the headman says.” (53)

To Be Loved

To be loved is to be alone.

To forget the opinion of others,
And value yourself.

People come and go,
Some will abandon you,
Some you will abandon.

Anyone but you is undependable and uncontrollable,
You are the only one that will always be there.
The person you can talk to in the dead of night.
The person who sticks around even when things get hard.

In the end,
We are left with only ourselves,
And the love we have for ourselves.

We need to be there for others,
but more importantly,
we need to be there for ourselves.