She sits upon a rock, weeping And watching the sky as it folds Into buckets of toxic smoke Rising from the endless burning Of forest and of fossils. In the sun, her head is melting. Her hands blanket her nostrils, Unable to inhale the baked Dust that overtook oxygen In the wake of industries.

When you said the house is on fire I looked around, I'm good, what should I do, grab my cat and run? When you said you have stolen my youth I thought of my own youth stolen by drugs and TV and basketball shooting pointless hoops in the driveway until it got so dark.

Avoid the trap Of vengeance Of turning on us When Terrorists massacre kids We ran away from men who plant bombs, Wield guns - demand absolute power, They are our enemies too That is why we are here If I had not left Syria I would have died But if I stay in "the jungle" over winter I could die too In a donated tent Easy tinder for a tarpaulin Kristallnacht Bonfires of hatred We came to Europe to find the land of human rights Instead we are left here in this camp

The first seeds were sown a long time ago. When these small seed shells burst open they were scattered locally. They grew patchily at first, in Palestine, in Israel, in Lebanon and throughout the Arab world. There were only little streams to irrigate and fertilise them, so they often failed to thrive.

This May there are more than nine dozen calls for submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees. As always, every genre, style, and form is wanted, from short stories to poetry to essays. I post calls for submissions a few days prior to the first day of every month.

Valiant Scribe is a new, annual online and print journal publishing fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, artwork, cross-genre, and religious work. You can read their first two annual issues on their website to get a feel for the type of work they accept. "Valiant Scribe sits at the nexus of faith and social issues.

Dear Redeemed Writers, Thank you for joining us for the last meeting of the Spring 2022 season exploring the theme "Peace Like a River During the Writing Process". We look forward to fellowshipping with you and cheering you on at our in-person reading: Tuesday, May 24th, 7:00 PM EST (NYC Time) at W83rd Street Ministry Center 150 W.

Enjoy Valiant Scribe's book recommendations. Check out the book of your choice here to enjoy its contents!