Ishanee Chanda

love in the time of fascism

in venezuela, there are still

weddings and riots. to gay people,

they are the same thing. in germany, 

schindler must have shuttled some 

lesbians to safety, giving them wigs 

and pants and fake husbands to kiss. 

in china somewhere, two uyghur boys 

are currently holding hands. in russia, 

a trans woman is getting her wings. 

in america, you and i live here, in 

a home together for quiet revolution. 

i kiss your lips on the street. we hope 

we make it home. we hope. we hope

Ishanee Chanda is a prose writer and poet from Dallas, Texas. She is the author of two books of poetry titled Oh, these walls, they crumble and The Overflow. Additionally, she has been published in the Eckleberg Project, Stoked Words: A Queer Anthology, Z Publishing House’s Emerging Texas Writers, Flypaper Magazine, OutWrite Journal, the ASP Bulletin, and Apricity Press. Ishanee currently resides in Washington, D.C. where she works full-time in the field of humanitarian aid and refugee response. She enjoys eating her weight in Thai food, singing loudly to Taylor Swift, and spending time in Brookland with her little family.