May 13, 2026
On the way back from school
By Braveheart Gillani
“The thing about the past is that it never really is.” – Irish saying
There is that of God in everyone
Trying to find God in my gods
What happens when God gets triggered?
Did he get trigger-happy?
She had her son’s stuffed animals peeking from the glove compartment
There is that of God in everyone
Cloaked in moral injury, he always smells blood…everywhere
What happens when God gets triggered?
His mother dropped him off at school in the mornings
Her son’s stuffed animals peeking from the glove compartment
“Fucking Bitch”
Cloaked in moral injury, he always smells blood…everywhere
Braveheart Gillani is a striving poet, pilgrim, and frequent procrastinator whose work is shaped by movement across disciplines and identities. Trained as an engineer and now a social work professor, he writes with technical precision and deep attention to human vulnerability. His interests include environmental justice, LGBTQ+ health, and masculinities, particularly the ways care, labor, and belonging are negotiated within and against dominant systems. His poems often explore uncertainty, ethics, and endurance, lingering in the spaces between action and delay, conviction and doubt, seeking forms of attention that are both rigorous and humane.
April 15, 2026
Silently She Cries
By Donald Grant
She stands taller than Helios,
“Keep your storied pomp,
Your conquering power,” she says.
She calls out with a silent voice.
She calls to those who are poor,
She calls to those who are tired,
Calls to the homeless, the wretched refuse,
That tempest has tossed.
They answer her call.
Je suis la, Я здесь,
Lo sono qui, Ich bin hier.
They come with hope, with dreams.
She watches as they strive,
As they blend and succeed.
She lifts her lamp, proud
And pleased at what she sees.
They soon forget the lands they left.
Their foreign tongues of how they spoke.
United they cry, “We are here!”
But to the lady their backs are turned.
New voices cry out, “Estamos aqui, vengamos!”
The lady has grown old, but yet she says,
“Let them in, they are as once you were.”
But they say back, “We will not, let’s build a wall.”
Donald Grant is a husband, cook, cat lover, high handicap golfer, and poet. Usually in that order. He lives on the Central Coast of California, and most days include a walk along the beach with his wife. Raised as a military brat, he has lived in various parts of the United States and spent several years in North Africa. During his life he has been an engineer, a minister, and a small business owner. He loves to comment on life and when something attracts his attention, he will add his thoughts to his blog, Dr. Don’s Diatribe.