Nine of Swords (Reversed)

rope and mask
by Linda Lowen

i disguise myself
as helpless,
bound,
secretly mastering
self control
and insight
beyond
the thrust of
steel and
doubt

Linda Lowen (she/her) is a Japanese-American writer who was raised Jewish, briefly practiced Buddhism, and is lately drawn to her mother’s Shinto roots. She is returning to writing driven by personal demons rather than the almighty paycheck, and her work-in-progress features disruptive feminist Asians.