Legendary Poet Rita B.Rose , your poetry signatures freedom , resilience and woma-nity.

Rita B. Rose, this set of poems carries rarity, quest for freedom and resilience. It is spiritedly revolutionary in both presentation and meaning. This freestyle is diligently concocted with lyrical prowess and profound reason as diction is dished out freely without any horse- buckling. The poet, activist and writer in Rita Rose is a free spirit, a liberated morning bird humming hymns for the freedom of the other section of our humanity   that is stigmatized and oppressed because of barricades set by cultural stereotypes, unrestrained buckles of political thuggery. Sections of our humanity crucified on the altar of historical barbarism and human savagery. Her writings interdict negative machinations perpetuated by arrogant purveyors of stigma and segregation in communities.   Her versifications bravely contest for the   dignity of LGBTQ and more over boldly pays homage to the grandmothers, mothers and daughters. Women of valor still living and those long gone to be embraced by the glorious hands of almighty, their legacy is remembered and respected. Heroines of past and present. Poet Rose is a representative of women dignity and   sisterly resilience. Her poetry is extraordinary, pregnant with the messages of parity, reason and equity.  Today, TIME OF THE POET REPUBLIC celebrates diversity, prowess and dexterity with internationally profiled artist, widely published poet and hallowed human freedoms   activist Rita B. Rose. Aluta Continua-(Blurb  by Mbizo CHIRASHA)

Winter Creeper

Winter Creeper you are strong as I am

gay and green nothing stands in your way

you fight in summer for the right to thrive

your legacy clings upon a stone wall, unchanged

Gay and green nothing stands in your way

horticultural heretics neglect your imprint

your legacy clings upon a stone wall, unchanged

no matter how they try to sever you—you cling

Horticultural heretics neglect your imprint

Emerald Gay Winter Creeper adhere to the wall

no matter how they try to sever you—you cling

forever living and climbing the stone wall

Emerald Gay Winter Creeper adhere to the wall

you fight in summer for the right to thrive

forever living and climbing the stone wall

Winter Creeper you are as strong as I am

Squeezed a Blood Red

            in memoriam

Sunshine State; city beautiful

South Orange Avenue

squeezed a blood red—

Magical playland where

mice scurry and pixie’s sprinkle dust

they bow their animated heads as

the Queen of Hearts sits in a tea cup

sobbing; her caricature smile upside

down squeezed a blood red—

Earlier downtown, dance club

is bustling, vibrant and gay

it is Latino Night on a Saturday

young hearts, joyous and alive

Mambo, Cha-Cha, free style—

D.J. spinning latest tunes; last tunes

as night is squeezed a blood red—

Madman, mass shooter, massacring

LGBTQ patrons –trapped inside

our family— most all in their prime;

melodic syncopated rhythms still stream

in the club as gun shots hammer out

this is the sound of death

as night is squeezed a blood red—

Suffragette Crowns

Come women, all hearts, all hues, all generations

tread lightly over roads of tar, cobbles and dirt

march in solidarity in our homeland

and across the world; we blend to one

in this sea of pink, of suffragette crowns,

a garnish on our heads

Greatgrandmothers, mothers, grandmothers, aunts,

daughters, friends from long ago, we honor you

you, who have carried us this far

your spirits guide our every ebb and flow in our blushing sea

we roll call your names, never forgetting our struggles

as we demonstrate against inequality, for liberty

you are forever embraced in this sea of pink with

suffragette crowns,

a garnish on our heads

Come women, all hearts, all hues, all generations

clamor with determined voices, echo throughout

canyons of time and now never to be crammed into an

archaic black night again

in this sea of pink, of suffragette crowns,

a garnish on our heads

Combersof change, we demand it,

crash onto our shores of tomorrow as we proceed

with spirit sisters walking at our side,

conveying their words and how far we have come;

their life-force arousing our confidence, because of them

we travel forth, we know how far we have come;

we know we will succeed

Twenty-first Century Women march on; march on—

together, in our sea of pink with suffragette crowns,

a garnish on our heads

Rita B. Rose is a Brooklyn born, Long Island raised author, poet and playwright.Her works include the exposé Asylum: from the Inside (2001), Veranda Sundown (2019),and Flower Poems: Personalities in Bloom (2020). She also served as co-editor on the anthology, Stonewall’s Legacy (2019).She is also a mixed-media artist. Her paintings have been showed in various galleriesand are featured in the avant-garde magazine, The Exhibitioner. A copy can be found at the MOMA in New York City.Rita ‘Rusty’ Rose, is the mother of modern-day LGBTQ movement, having fought for civil freedoms at Stonewall Riots, NYC, in 1969. She is the current and first LGBTQ poet laureate on Long Island, New York. The documentary, Inside Stonewall,is slated to come out in the near future. It features Rusty’s clash with police on the night of the riot. She is also a Second- wave feminist.

Mbizo CHIRASHA( Time of the Poet Republic Curator)   Author of a Letter to the President. co-Authored Whispering Woes of Ganges and Zambezi. Co-Edited Street Voices Poetry Collection (Germany Africa Poetry Anthology). Co- Editor of the Corpses of Unity Anthology.  Associate Editor at  Diasporia(n) online. Chief Editor at Time of the Poet Republic. Founding Editor at WomaWords Literary Press. Publisher at Brave Voices Poetry journal.  Curator at Africa Writers Caravan. UNESCO-RILA Affiliate Artist at University of Glasgow. 2020 Poet in Residence Fictional Café. 2019 African Fellow, IHRAF.ORG. Project Curator and Co-Editor of the Second Name of Earth is Peace (Poetry Voices Against WAR Anthology). Contributing Essayist to Monk Arts and Soul Magazine.  Poetry and writtings appear in  FemAsia Magazine ,Wrath -Bearing Tree, Inksweat andtears journal , One Ghana One Magazine, Ofi Press, World Poetry Almanac, Demer Press , Atunis Galaxy poetry online , IHRAF Publishes , The Poet a Day , Bezine.Com , Sentinel UK, Oxford School of Poetry Pamphlet , Africa Crayons, PulpitMagazine,Poetry Pacific, Zimbolicious , Best New Poets ,Poetry Bulawayo , Gramnet webjournal, Diogen Plus , Poeisis.si , Festival de Poesia Medellin and elsewhe