Our Readers
The cover of our Fall/Winter 2009 journal was a photo of a beautiful young Afghani girl with unforgettable eyes. The feedback poured in for many weeks. Our readers reacted to her image so strongly and some said that they were moved to tears. When we launched the Spring/Summer 2010 issue, we wanted to allow readers to pay tribute to this mystery girl and, for the first time, extended an invitation for creative fiction. Below are the poetry and short story submissions, followed by a narrative of what the photographer, internationally renowned photojournalist Reza, knows about her. We hope you enjoy these creative submissions.
Poppy Orphan - a poem by Cynthia Bilder-Caminiti
Reba - a short story by Paul Vonharnish
Photographer's Notes - text by Rachel Deghati
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In the middle of the road of my life I awoke in a dark wood where the true way was wholly lost. –Dante
In the middle of my life I found myself in a dark night of the soul. I saw my world threatened by environmental degradation, war, economic collapse and human suffering.
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I was in an exciting time of transition and creation of a new life. For weeks, I had been talking to the two partners of a law firm. We'd met, talked and looked at their spare offices. I was hoping to start my first job as a lawyer and planning to talk details the next day.
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When I hung up the phone I felt utterly helpless and hopeless. It had been a long, painful conversation. The more I presented my story and explained, the more I felt rejected and abandoned.
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“Remember? One day you were going to wake up now.”
A deep calm emerged as something within me began earnestly calling me home to myself while I gaped at footage of an airliner demolishing the 110-story building full of people.
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The human family faces challenges that threaten the ways of life, even survival, of many people on Earth. Climate change, water, energy shortages, ecological devastation, war, terrorism—all suggest the need for cohesive worldwide resolutions.
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We are a community of human beings, organised in such a way that individual responsibility for the production of goods, foods and services is entrusted to specialists so as to provide efficiencies and economies of scale.
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