Self Portrait with Cropped Hair, 2023

Risha Mae Ordas
 

She transmuted herself into

“the despite”

With gritted teeth

And the abject will to live

 

A revolutionist,

A woman,

A pompous surrealist,

She felt her experiences

Made her poignant.

Her legacy,

A survival tactic

Her brilliance,

Her unabashed rawness,

Her history.

 

I believe

She understood

And imagined

Her death.

Her impetus

In pursuing her life

Not at all

Contributing to the

Movements in her heart.

 

 

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Original Blackout of a text of the author’s speech entitled “you who cannot see, think of those who can”

 

Risha Mae Ordas (she/her) is a neurodivergent poet, a short story writer, and a professor. She is the author of the upcoming chapbook entitled "Juvenile Womanhood" (NakedCat Publishing). Her works have appeared or are forthcoming in Novice, Moonbow Magazine, the Afterpast Review, and Porchlit Magazine. She is based in Baguio City, Philippines.