NO KINGS
today, I do not stand.
not for an anthem, not for a flag,
not for men who mistake violence for history.
instead, I write.
the only place
where I was never asked
to choose between silence and survival.
they want celebration.
I give them grief folded
into the shape of something holy.
there are no kings here.
only the lie that some of us belong
more than others.
I remember every version of myself
I was told to abandon,
the girl with two homes and no homeland.
some carry fireworks.
we carry
photographs gone soft at the edges,
recipes written in hands we no longer recognize.
we carry
what empires
tried to unmake.
today,
I do not pledge.
I do not bow.
I light a candle
for all the ones
who kept their language
tucked behind their teeth
and called it resistance.
this, too,
is a kind of country.
the kind we build
without permission.
- pavana reddy


This is a piece that speaks to my heart everyday. It’s still highlighting what’s going on during today’s events! 😫