I am not a whole lot of things but I am parts of so many. I take what’s in my way and sew it to my chest: A sky a scent the pulsing of a river, all collected and fumbled by my own clumsy digits. A loop, a song, a dance I have done too many … Continue reading poetry// affirmations
Poetry
poetry// splintered rhythms
in the midst of it all there is a bird that has died and a tree mourns the loss of another fateful tenant a hundred year history etched into her lonely branches some say if you read the rings of a tree you can moonwalk through time with your fingertips how it whirls around the … Continue reading poetry// splintered rhythms
poetry// thread count
my father unpacks his suitcase that is still shedding sudanese dust around the handles and hands me a hijab that my cousin’s tender fingers picked herself from a thousand ways to say i love you to a face you haven’t seen in a sorrowful decade/ the scent of bakhour hovers in the threads/ rests in the … Continue reading poetry// thread count
poetry// confessions
few understand the burden of being introduced as your Father’s Daughter. All of a sudden your words are not your own but the both of yours the way you hold your head the way you dress the way you form syllables and sit down to eat and greet the old woman at the door are … Continue reading poetry// confessions
poetry// the light
after Caroline Rothstein & in honor of the victims of the March 2019 terror attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand The Thing about life is that it is tiny small and petite can be folded up neatly and tucked six feet under The Thing about life is death is quietude amidst noise is departure from world to … Continue reading poetry// the light
poetry// fragility
i break my self in half like a ripe loaf of bread / the crack of my spine like the peppery taste of crumbs in the air as shattered crust exposes soft yeasty insides. / i split in two like a lentil in a black pot / on an old woman’s stove / like a … Continue reading poetry// fragility
poetry// thickener
I am not my father He is immigrant & I have never been one. He is tall & I am me and so I am not my father. I am loud & his voice is strong enough to be soft and not collapse. He is a healer & I write poetry He is orphaned & … Continue reading poetry// thickener
poetry// acrobatics
When I am this far off the ledge, barely dangling, you cannot love me home Wait for me at the bottom instead. Upturn your arms, Become The Home I think about the times here I grimace at myself and my mouth. I needn't split my hands to mold strange people into good friends, I have … Continue reading poetry// acrobatics
poetry// illness
God is good to me. I wait & I wait & I wait And each morning I rise I stumbled out of bed And stay frozen there Sometimes. God is good to me. I bite my tongue and let the blood collect in my mouth I tear up my clothes and scatter them around my … Continue reading poetry// illness
poetry// holy water
Water is my healing It calls my name in all of its pronunciations My toes crawl back to the rivers & the lakes & the places I know where the earth’s veins tumble open And oxidize at human touch. Water is my song The waves / the sounds of river slapping up against concrete harbor … Continue reading poetry// holy water
