term to describe
people erased
for existing
against the grain–
the disappeared
gone
not like the rapture
not from natural causes diseases accidents age
but deleted
the disappeared
aborted
long after birth
tossed into
the garbage bin
behind history books
the disappeared
expunged
blue contacts over brown seeing
flat iron over kinky locks
jeans over galabaya*
Irish Spring over cumin and garlic
the letters of your name
syllables of you
forever on papers
rearranged to match
a stranger in a strange land’s ear
the disappeared
~ Mary Silwance
*flowing gown worn by Middle Easterners
Mary Silwance is an environmental educator and activist who blogs at Tonic Wild and founded One Less Pipeline. She is a mother of three and a gardener who aspires to having goats, bees and chickens. Her work has been published in Syracuse Cultural Workers Datebook, Konza Journal, Descansos and Sequestrum.
Guest Editor Maril Crabtree holds B.A, M.A., and J.D. degrees from the University of Kansas and has taught French, English, therapeutic writing, yoga, and sustainable living. Her poetry, short stories, and essays have been published in numerous journals, along with three chapbooks. Her full-length collection, Fireflies in the Gathering Dark, will be published in August, 2017.
The Coop: A Poetry Cooperative 
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