By: Lee Broda
lost souls, half alive,
an ouroboros, history haunting itself:
six million bodies, dust;
I’ve inherited all the ashes of our past,
the pain, ingrained in my DNA,
an anthology of oppression,
in my every cell
their nightmares interrupt my sleep,
phantom pain, intergenerational trauma
etched in blood, inked on their arms
the horror of their stories told, the worst hidden,
buried in mass graves,
surfacing when I visit
what once was home
following footsteps from camp to camp,
souls perished,
hopes and dreams left behind,
interred under six inches of snow,
their future crumbled,
rubble,
cities after war
Lee Broda is an Israeli-born poet based in Los Angeles, whose poetry deals with a variety of female-centric issues, as seen through the lens of an immigrant with complex feelings about the physical, emotional, and cultural shifts, as well as the relationship of things, remembered and lost.
A passionate storyteller, she began her journey as a poet, actor, and filmmaker as a teenager. Last year, her debut collection of poems, Whispers From The Moon, was published to rave reviews worldwide. She is currently working on her follow up anthology, currently titled Facing Home.
Lee’s work as a film producer has led her to shepherd over forty feature films to success with her production company LB Entertainment. Her films have premiered at the world’s top festivals, including Sundance, Venice, Toronto, TriBeCa, SXSW, BFI, and New York Film Festival.
Additionally, Lee is the founder of the group Women Creating Change, an organization that empowers and creates opportunities for female writers, directors, producers, and actors from the Middle East and North Africa.