Half a century ago, a brilliant young Black lawyer received the honor of a diplomatic post in Africa. Soon she found herself propositioned by that country’s king. She said no. Compelled to tell someone what just happened, she called a trusted friend, who startled her with this advice: Don’t go home. Hail a cab, head straight to the airport, and take the first plane out. She did, and escaped with her life.

The people who told me this story were her foster parents. I met them on a tour of the United Nations in Geneva. We had lunch together while they waited for her to arrive. And arrive she did, resplendent, in the prime of her career and her power.

decades
on the world stage

wanting peace
more than men
she set

her intention

Cynthia Anderson

A California resident and poet for more than 40 years, Cynthia Anderson is the author of eleven books, most recently a collection of haiku and senryu entitled Full Circle (Cholla Needles, 2022). Her poems have been published widely in journals and anthologies, and she has received multiple nominations for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. In 2020, she took up short-form poetry including haiku, senryu, cherita, haibun, and split sequences. Her recent work focuses on the natural world and her family history.

Cynthia is co-editor of the anthology A Bird Black As the Sun: California Poets on Crows & Ravens (Green Poet Press). She makes her home in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National Park.

Author’s website: www.cynthiaandersonpoet.com

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⚡ Formerly Known as Ion, haibun by Cynthia Anderson which was nominated by MacQ for the Red Moon Anthologies, and selected for publication in Contemporary Haibun 17 (Red Moon Press, 2022).