INDESTRUCTIBLE NARRATIVE

by Peter F. Crowley

An aerial photograph taken by a drone shows displaced Palestinians returning to Rafah, a day after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect, Gaza Strip, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Mohammad Abu Samra)

Trump Plan for Gaza “Worse Than Ethnic Cleansing,” Says UN Human Rights Expert: Unlawful deportation or transfer of a population constitutes both a war crime and a crime against humanity. —Truthout, February 9, 2025

The usurper grinned,
broad-brimmed sunbeam hat, squinted eyes
while folding a pair of old,
torn jeans and stuffing them 
into a Goodwill bag
muttering to himself, 

“What was before never was.
What is now is the beginning.
Plow the forest, melt the trees,
farm the virgin land 
and let grass grow over villages.
We will soon forget what never was.”

From a rip in the Goodwill bag, 
a jeans leg fell out.

No matter how deep you bury,
No matter how many villages are liquidated,
You cannot kill the narrative of those
who were there before.


As a prolific author from the Boston area, Peter F. Crowley writes in various forms, including short fiction, op-eds, poetry and academic essays. His writing can be found in 34th Parallel, Pif Magazine, Galway Review, Digging the Fat, Adelaide’s Short Story and Poetry Award anthologies (finalist in both) and The Opiate. He is the author of the poetry books Those Who Hold Up the Earth and Empire’s End, and the short fiction collection That Night and Other Stories.

FOR THE ROHINGYA

by Charise M. Hoge




There are some
who must turn fire
into a tidal wave,
become a waterfall
mountain cascade.
But they are not liquid
made. Sinewy and limbed,
in limbo a long walk
from any land with their name,
where any can say “mine”.
Mine becomes the casualty
of forwardness, of egress.
Damages damming arrival
of a people––unchampioned,
already damned.

Charise M. Hoge, MA, MSW, is a dance/movement therapist, performing artist, and writer. She is co-author of the book A Portable Identity: A Woman’s Guide to Maintaining a Sense of Self While Moving Overseas, and her poetry chapbook Striking Light from Ashes was published July 2017 by Finishing Line Press.