Here I am/was a Libra, daughter of Gandhi and Jimmy Carter. Libra. Concerned lover
and friend. Gentle. Peace-loving. All these years holding onto the illusion those born
under the sign of the scales were blessed with a love of justice, fair-play and equanimity.
I believed this truly until reading recently that Putin, the Russian dictator born Oct. 7,
1952, and Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister born Oct. 21, 1949, possibly the two most
evil humans in power on the planet, are Libras. So goes my belief in astrology. I disavow
my Libran-ness. In my mind the entire zodiacal script is burning.
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Arya F. Jenkins is a Colombian-American poet and writer whose poems have appeared in many journals and zines such as The Ekphrastic Review, Hawaii Pacific Review, Jerry Jazz Musician, The Mackinaw, OyeDrum Magazine and Reverie Magazine. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and has been widely anthologized. The Mackinaw recently nominated her prose poem, “With Dylan in Ithaca” for the Best of the Net Awards Anthology 2025. She is the author of four poetry chapbooks, a short story collection, Blue Songs in an Open Key (Fomite Press), and a novel, Punk Disco Bohemian (NineStar Press). Her latest poetry chapbook is Singing in the Dark (Alien Buddha Press). Her blog is aryafjenkins.blogspot.com.