In seven jars, I will place seven frogs.
Carefullyyyy, just like so
I will whisper and I will coo,
I will crouch and I will roar
whirl round and round and round
dizzy
I will walk forward with everything a blur
I will walk to the heart of the woods where the frogs whisper
they tell me the power is there
there in the heart of the woods
where the silence is loudest and every step is falling
there is the power of the witch
she reached within her heart and pulled out power
oozing,
slimy,
drip...
she reached around and pulled the cobbly cobwebs
she spun the webs around her heart
with dirt on her face
dirt blood and sun on her face
there in the light dark green of the dappled shadows
shadows and light she wore on her body
shadows and light she wove in her hands
around the heart she’d torn from her chest
she spun the webs and spun the light
she spun the dark and spun her pain
falling
falling
falling
she put seven frogs and her now darkly beating heart
in the glen she’s dug with her claws
beautiful powerful hands turned claws
she put her power in the heart of the woods
and left for the island so that we may follow
I shall follow
and I will find power
it will course within me and it will refuse definition
it will pulse and scream the roar of a beast
wounded and angry
I will find power
A young Sudanese woman leads a crowd in protest against President Omar al-Bashir. Khartoum, Sudan. ©Lana Haroun
Three women engage in a transaction at a print fabric stall. Lagos, Nigeria. ©Cityzenkane CZK
A landscape shot of three women traveling by. South Kurdufan, Sudan. ©Hisham Karour