after Safia Elhillo
before al westness fairouz
i held my mama’s hand under
a pomegranate tree a self-enforced
silence carving our palms into bark
between ana wa her always an economy
of language habeebti here it is always
this grey wa ana always this sad
before al westness fairouz
i would drain honeysuckles
of their nectar you know
my mouth will always be
where i go to die habeebti
it is hard to think of other
things sometimes
______
TEXT:
ZEIN SA’DEDIN
UNITED KINGDOM