Memoir in four sentences and ten chapters by Mileva Anastasiadou

Abraham Harold Maslow

Memoir in four sentences and ten chapters

1.
1.1 I was born,
1.2 In a happy family,
1.3 Attending my basic needs,

2.
2.1 In a beautiful home,
2.2 In a faraway country,
2.3 You hadn’t even heard of,
2.4 Before it became a spectacle.

3.
3.1 Thanks to my loving parents,
3.2 And teachers and friends,

4.
4.1 I managed to study,
4.2 And I found a fulfilling job
4.3 As a teacher,

5.
5.1To help kids grow and learn,
5.2 When the war started,
5.3 And my life started falling apart,
5.4 Fragmented into tiny little pieces,
5.5 Or chapters of a book,
5.6 That was meant to be written,
5.7 But never was.

6.
6.1 My house was bombed down,
6.2 And I was left homeless,

7.
7.1 Seeking food and shelter
7.2 For my family,

8.
8.1 Crossing the borders,
8.2 In a small boat,
8.3 When the sea swallowed my life,
8.4 And took away my husband and son

9.
9.1 Leaving me and my unborn child,
9.2 Alone in a foreign land,
9.3 In a place that is not called a prison,
9.4 Yet it looks like it is,
9.5 With no dignity, nor freedom.

10.
10.1 When my daughter grows up,
10.2 I will teach her the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,
10.3 Based on this short story,
10.4 The story of my life,
10.5 And she will remember it forever.

Mileva Anastasiadou

Mileva Anastasiadou is a neurologist, living and working in Athens, Greece. Her work can be found in many journals and anthologies, such as the Molotov Cocktail, Maudlin house, Menacing Hedge, Midnight Circus, Big Echo:Critical SF, Jellyfish Review, Asymmetry Fiction and others. She has published two books in Greek and a collection of short stories in English (Once Upon a Dystopia by Cosmic Teapot Publication).

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