MOSAIC

Previously appeared on girlwithoneearring.com

Tongues twist 

tattling tales of impurity— 

like where we went to bed 

last night and what we drank 

for dinner. 

Generations upon generations 

have built this land 

your father’s father’s grandfather… 

بنت مين؟ ?meen Bent 

Who is her mother? 

Where did she go to school? 

What does her father do? 

We watch ourselves afraid 

they will unearth

our secrets. 

Words cannot describe what you made me feel: fucking everything. Mesh tay2ah, bas bahebo? 

You weren’t there for me. We can’t start over again.

K*ssomo. 

We once thought 

we owed them nothing— 

the pashas and the princes… 

lazy dreamers ablaze in 

fiery hope. Now we rest 

in judgment and in blame. 

Today we gather our 

prestige and hang it 

at the door. 

We soak ourselves in 

limestone and in barley. 

A new world order 

in the making.