Contributor: Nikita Gill

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You are a face
not like any other,
a face that folds
empires and cities.

Heralding hurricanes
inside your hair
you ran from rancid
archaic responsibilities

Did you know, Helen,
when the horizon
swallowed Greece
as you, guarded, gazed.

Did your dormant
latent Goddess
erupt with the ichor
as it sung in your veins?
Helen of Troy,
Helen of Zeus,
Helen of Wild,
Helen of War.

Bearer of beauty
Bringer of blood
Donor of death
Maker of lore.

Does the weight
of your freedom
still plague your
conscience?

Or is a Goddess’s
freedom equal to
the cry of children
as their city falls?


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Nikita Gill has been featured in Foliate Oak, Monkeybicycle, and elsewhere. She has released her first book last year, and her second book Wild Embers, to be released with Hatchette Publishing this year.