Its ringing, its ringingPick up! I sayWhat parts of my speech do you wish to push away?What will you avoid by declining the call?Do you think you I’ll back down? Do you think I will fall?For you to hear my words, how must I reach out?Must I dance? Must I sing? Must I scream, must I shout?What will take for your mind to open and seeThat we wish for love, we wish for equality Before we had no phones, no way to speak, to screamBut now that we do, we are declined, with it, our dreamsOf a place where my […]
Border
Ramallah, Palestine; “Shira? Shira, get up.” My mother roused me from my cramped bed while my brother still slept. Her eyes were dark and ran with circles. She was worried and sleepless after so many nights without my father. She had to work extra shifts over the past few days and the work had ripped calluses in her hands and frazzled her. Every time he left for work across the border, it took him as many as five days to return. The ordeal sent my mother spiraling, worrying each time that he would not come back from his job, and […]
Librarian
Glasses perched low across a crooked noseHis somber eyes rarely liftedInstead, they grazed over catalogsDark ink spilling over themHis hunch, deep, unmovingAs he pored over texts of the pastWhile his arched skeletal handsDrew volumes from their shelvesHe climbed down from his step ladderMiniscule against his towering shelvesClicking against the linoleumIn tidy polished shoesHis brown shirt, tucked into slacksSleeves rolled for slender forearmsThat hauled the doors open each morningHe tsked at the slightest disturbanceGazing disapprovingly at those who whisperedIn his sacred sanctuaryAnd when his brown eyes did meetThey shone and they sparkledWith boundless knowledgeWith a million stories untoldEyes of wisdom, of […]
Like in the Books
I wake up to birdsongunder duvets of fine cottonStaring at the blue skyIn nightgowns of silk and chartreuseLike in the books of royalty- I pick up strawberries from untouched fieldsMy dress cupped under berriesTo be spread as jam over bites of sweet toastTo feed to the nymphs and fairiesLike in the books of woodland fairies- I hunt through old boughs and willowsTristing through the briars as I runTo the secret place that the world doesn’t knowOf hollowed caves and forest clearingsLike in the books of adventure- The trees whisper to me in secretDotting the floor with dappled sunlightSparkling with rays […]
Dreams
As she lays her head down to sleepShe dreams of a world of love and of peaceShe dreams of a place where everyone smilesA place she would want to raise her child. Where her mothers and sisters can walk late at nightWhere her brothers are not shot because their skin isn’t lightWhere her friends can live with whoever they pleaseWithout fearing guns at their temples, and batons at their knees. Where the government is for the people, and not just for someWhere human rights are promised to every single oneWhere all have education, clean water, clean airWhere the poor are […]
Apology
I nervously tapped my feet against the cold linoleum floor. Amidst the white jackets and bleached uniforms, my torn blue jacket stood out in the waiting room. I had spent hours here already. I felt my legs losing all feeling, the hours I had spent in cramped in this chair were taking its toll. People beside me spoke indecipherably, their words a jumbled mess of concern and worry and prayers. I had no one beside me to voice my concern with. Instead, my eyes stared blankly ahead, searching for the lean doctor who had whisked her away. I trembled with […]
Marginalized
“Atifa? Won’t you eat? You must look healthy when the guardians come”. The nurse held the steaming hot bowl of porridge near my sister’s face as she looked away blankly. I had long stopped forcing her to eat and drink when the nurses had come with the meager bowls of food. I had forced down the bowl only a few minutes ago, so I would look “healthy”. The guardians who came for adoption often picked the strongest, the ones who looked “normal” enough to fit in with their privileged neighborhoods, ones that didn’t drag attention and raised questions. That was […]
Phases
The rain drags in heavy bursts, pellets on the roof,and the quiet clinks of folk music sound from downstairs,Kapok trees swaying outside the dirty glass.But when she looks up at the skythe moon, half-cuppedTippingstares back at her. The wind shifts the grains of sand against walls,Clouds of dust billow from the groundSilence surrounds the open desert plainbut when he looks up at the skythe moon, half-cuppedTipping precariouslystares back at him. The pull of the tides rumbles in the distance,Their salty scent balancing on the humid airWaves crashing against weakening rockBrushing against the white-washed brickbut when he looks up at the […]
Dirty
The sky was the blue-black of the deep oceanIts edges tinged with soft blue by the horizonAnd I wheel by in my Toyota CelicaThe pale full moon up in the sky“Look for the lucky rabbit in the moon”I hearI cannot find it. The rabbit is hidden beneath the rising plumes of smokeWhy are you so dirty?I ask him silentlyWhy is your pale face speckled with gray?Why are you smudged with black?Why do the clouds of ash and fumes hide your white light?He doesn’t answer me. I look for his friends in the skyThe blue black once dotted with starsIs now […]
Grandmother
Grandmother sits on her porchUnder the wind chimes, in her blue cardigan,Crochet needles clicking in her hands.And she watches the sun set over the playgroundWhere the young children yell.She watches Anna shake her head at Zabir,Who threw the sand a little too highShe watches Mark crash his trucks again and againAnd watches Maya wail when her doll snaps.Grandmother smiles to herself softly.That was her a while ago. Grandmother sits on her porchThe wind chimes are still and her blue dress hangs,Knitting needles dancing in her fingers.She watches the sky darken over the playgroundWhere the children talkShe watches Anna complain of […]
The pool
Lune did not like her neighbor’s house. She rarely ever visited and with good reason. The house was foreboding. It was strange. It was dark and terrifying. Amidst lovely red and white bricked houses with roofs that slanted at the exact same angle, and perfectly manicured gardens, it stood gray and crooked. Its leaning turrets and haphazard shingles were in sharp contrast to the suburbs around it. And Lune did not like it That is not to say she wasn’t curious Her mother had baked casserole the day before, and there were extras leftover. She pleaded with her mother to […]
Older
I blew out candles, 9-years old,The wax relighting itself, fire burning again,And within the white light above the cake, I thought;“halfway there”,Halfway there to adulthood.Halfway there to freedom.Halfway there to life. Or so I thought.When I threw the cap on my graduation day,11-years-old, into the 6th grade,Amidst the flying caps and cheers of proud parents,The clanging notes of the graduation theme,and I thought;“halfway there”,Halfway there before I walked free from the school gates.Halfway there before I never submitted homework again.Halfway there before I entered the gates of college instead.A picture I painted of hope and new starts. Or so I […]
