Dear Unsealers,

It’s the first day of April. And that’s no fooling.

I know, I can hardly believe it either as it felt like the year was just starting five minutes ago.

But we’ve arrived at the second quarter of this year. And there’s mostly a blank slate right now. That’s the beauty of each day though, the canvas is there for creation to happen in whatever form we choose.

With that idea in mind, I welcome in the month of April:

Under the April skies
A new month begins

30 days, with a blank slate ahead
A breather after New Year’s, Valentine’s and Easter have all gone

A month where rain falls
The flowers and leaves will surely grow
Under blissful sunny skies

So will the creativity
In the midst of NaPoWriMo
The poems will come fast and furious

With a new quarter of the year on tap
Where will life go from here?

Under April skies
I’ll let the days and nights flow
From there, I’ll know where to go

International Writer’s Day
Acrostic

Internet has facilitated global connections
Never stop the growth of writers
That rend their hearts as their words flow
Empowering the weak to
Remember their worth
Never succumbing to oppression’s
Timely propagation that cleaves
Intimate family members into
Open enemity, clearly ‘Dividing & Conquering’
Needlessly aggressive, destructive,
Avid in mercilessly taking resources and
Leaving nothing to the Indigenous peoples.

Write, revel, rebel, roast, rumble the gruesome
Reality of a world built on Materialism
Instead of unity of humanity
That lends compassion and succor that
Eventually works together against the oppressor
Ruining the ecology, separating family,
Solidifying Darwin’s rules of supremacy

Dealing in strength that overpowers others
Amid illegal, inhumane practices that have
Yet to be punished.

©️ Malak kalmoni chehab ©️

A nightmare became real a few days ago
Seeing it unfold in Baltimore on Twitter X
was confirmation of its existence
Thankfully, you, and I were nowhere near it
But other humans were in the eye of a storm
A storm they didn’t see coming
A storm they never thought would come to pass
A storm they didn’t think
would be the final chapter they would see
In a dark atmosphere
The almost hero of the night
did his best to hold himself up
But the boat’s power that glided in his path
was too much for him to handle
His strength quickly dissipated into nothingness
and finally collapsed into cold and dark waters
along with the people he tried to save
It’s a sad situation
seeing events like this affecting the human nation
It’s another reminder to appreciate life
And to live it with all our might.

Dear Unsealers,

The 25th of March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day. And the month of March is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month in the United States.

It hasn’t been easy to say that I have cerebral palsy. As it was so present in the years that I grew up, it almost became the whole story of who I was. But I’ve come around and accepted the fact that CP is a part of my life. Yet, it’s only one part of the larger story that’s still being written to this very day.

I’m more than the challenges present, and the same goes for everyone in the community in their own ways.

I’ve written something in honor of the day:

National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day

On the 25th of March
An underserved community’s turn in the spotlight

I’ve had my fair share of challenges
From my eyes, my speech to my feet
But I’ve risen above all of it
To be me, a writer and traveler

CP used to be the entire story
Defined by all the limitations
Now it’s just part of the plot
Of a larger story that’s still being told

On this day and every day
A reminder to everyone…

People with Cerebral Palsy
Live lives of joy and wonder
Unbowed by the impossible

Even if things take more time to do
After all, we bring our full selves to the forefron

Where have you been?
My time traveling friend
You’re here in the present again

You were stuck in the past
Confused and aghast
Back then and forever in when

You are never here
Through these months and years
When is it that you go?

Sometimes it’s a loss
But my hope I won’t toss
From spring blooms to the fallen snow

But if truth should be told
And if the story unfolds
Did you change everything that you could?

For now it is now
And I don’t know how
You’d claim it to be as you would

Because the trouble with time
It only can wind
To a future that is not yet

However, with you
To the future you flew
Because time for you isn’t set

So lonely you go
A sad, sorry soul
And no one can understand you

We will meet again
My time traveling friend
In a world that to me seems so new

Dear Unsealers,

It’s the 17th day of March.

After years of searching for Irish blessings to post on this day, I began to write my own.

With the luck of the Irish, comes this year’s version:

On this, the 17th day of March
A blessing from me to you

May your days be filled with joy
And all the craic spent in good company

For the peace to ease weary times
As the rainbows fill the skies
Under bright blue, sunny daylight

With sweet songs sung in tune
Carrying this message far and wide

In this moment of Céad Míle Fáilte
From the Emerald Isle with love, sent across the world

Happy St Patrick’s Day!
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!

Dear Unsealed,

We walk through our lifetime,
On planet Earth
To walk
To run
For fun
Of rebirth
Of bonds of friends that intertwine
With our everyday smiles and laughter
Of new friendships formed as we capture
Photographs of play and nature and all things
Friends share experiences of human beings,
Of life and living each day
Along the way.
Hear every word that I say.
What happens when tears and heartache appear
Among the two friends of a New Year,
As the two friends were young and free
As they grow up to be
Other people as careers?
Who will win?
The two friends took different life paths.
One girl goes to college to satisfy her thirsty curiosity to expand her mind.
As she steps into the classroom of professors to combine
Knowledge and critical thinking skills.
In the progressive way
Of slipping into the 21st century time
Of creating a stream of consciousness of rhythm and rhyme.
The other girl
Chose another path,
To travel
Of motorcycles and army and other avenues
Of life, laughter, destruction of venues
Of sporadic adventures as the girl walks into
The wild blue
Of what she chooses to do
The two friends lose touch,
But still think about each other so much,
Not realizing when they meet up as adults,
They no longer have anything in common,
As the roads they chose were different as night and day
No reason,
No rhyme,
Just in time
They go their separate ways again,
In time they each count the actual number of true friends
On their one hand of five fingers of expression of when
They each discover people come into our lives,
To stay or teach a lesson,
And that one friend was there to care,
At a certain point in time to bear
A burden of friendship then flies away.
So, I have learned that some friends go away,
Because they were there for that time in our lives
Then to walk a different life path of hope, despair, or strife
And to remember it is okay.
Bless the time
And move forward with rhythm, rhyme, and song of space and time,
To live.

We accept the adventures of different roads taken,
Of yesterday and today
As we awaken
To a new dawn
A sun
A star
A moon,
To you my long-ago friend of my childhood
No worries,
Take care,
Live,
Laugh,
Care,
Despair,
Hope,
And love and peace to you
In the matrix of time and theater of life
I choose life and creative endeavors of strife,
Turned into light energy,
Of the Earth
The stars, the moon
I will not see you soon,
As we can no longer communicate
About politics or life
As we are 180 degrees away from
Compromise or love.
You are my past friend.
And in the end
I am okay.
You are okay.
We were meant for only childhood play.
Sincerely,
Vicki Lawana Trusselli

In the darkness of doubt and despair,
I carried the weight of judgment unfair.
Bipolar, depression, schizophrenia’s shadow,
Teachers’ words piercing like a sharp arrow.

“You’ll never be anything, just a lost cause.”
Echoes of doubt, reinforcing flaws.
But deep within, a flame flickered bright,
A spirit unbroken, ready for the fight.

Through the storms of mental strife,
I embraced the challenges of life.
Rising above the cruel words spoken,
I refused to let my spirit be broken.

Amidst the chaos, I found my way,
Striving for a brighter day.
First in my family to reach that height,
A beacon of hope, shining so bright.

I walked the path less traveled by,
Defying odds reaching for the sky.
People’s eyes now filled with surprise,
Seeing the truth behind their lies.

I confess the pain that once held me down,
The weight of expectations, a heavy crown.
But in spite of it all, I stand tall and strong,
A testament to resilience all along.

So here I am, a survivor, a warrior true,
Proving wrong every naysayer’s view.
I am not defined by my past’s dark spree,
I am here, I am free, I am me.

Dear Unsealers,

The 8th of March is International Women’s Day.

I wanted to show a measure of gratitude to the women in my life, from my mom, sister and all of my female friends and acquaintances. Today, tomorrow and all of the days that follow.

It’s with that idea in mind, that the following poem comes from…

On International Women’s Day
A shout out to all the women

From all walks, ages of life
And all corners of the globe

Showing backbone that keeps the world together
Through shows of tenacity, strength, kindness and love

I ought to know this for sure
For their courage and ambition
Coming to the forefront time and again

I look up to the women in my life
My mother, my sister and oh so many more
As their encouragement makes me who I am

We celebrate them and admire them
Every day of the year, not just today

I am writing to remind you that the way you love yourself—is also the way you allow others to love you as well. I am writing to remind you that loving yourself means more than simply loving the parts that you are most proud of.

It is peeling back the perceptions, misconceptions, and projections. It is loving past, present and future you; all the varied iterations beloved anew. It is gazing longingly within. It is lifting the veil—accepting and releasing all you’ve been: the monsters and angels both.

It is forgiveness for not always being the very best version of yourself, allowing even you to make mistakes. It is making peace with yourself so you can be at peace with other people. It is pure inner G/energy.

It is preemptively setting the stage each day—via your preferred method of attaining your most aware state—so that your focus is maintained on fun and play—simply because you deserve to feel good. Allowing each day to be dimpled with love and laughter as each could.

It is being capable of keeping commitments to yourself. Where self compassion and self actualization meet, love is an endless well. The more that you pour into yourself, the more you become a living self love spell. Such great love can only expand to reach everyone else.

I am writing to remember that the way I love myself is also the way I allow others to love me as well. I am writing to remember that loving myself means more than simply loving the parts that I am most proud of.

I am writing to remember.