Sheikha A.

Sheikha A.
 
Khair al Barriyah
 
Life is created from sand;
the chromosomes of morality

grow like cherry vines
bordering the entrance

of a new world, all of water –
bahr – contain us,

where we will be held
as sustenance – humanity;

walk to us from under the wishbone
arch, a pitcher of sherbet awaits,

like a guest to a home
sakar we will put in your mouth

and lay a feast that will begin
with the taste of salt;

close your eyes to the broken chairs,
cover your ears to the sounds of fire,
hold your shoulders from convoluting,
clothe your skin from spalled metal;

look only towards the arch
pointing to the sky, enter through
our paint eroded doors,

the land is fractioned:
overlapping no oceans

nor does it contain the rich food
of tamar and khubz

but you will find the gravel gentle
on our land of khair –

having wailed under the fallen –
we will share salvation
from our bowls – we are water;

and our ears know the echoes
of running feet.
 
 
 
Sheikha A. is from Pakistan and United Arab Emirates. She is the author of a short poetry collection titled Spaced [Hammer and Anvil Books, 2013]. Her work has appeared in 70 literary venues such as Red Fez, Mad Swirl, Ygdrasil, A New Ulster, DM du jour, ken*again, Poetry Pacific, Knot Magazine, Dissident Voice, Harbinger Asylum to name a few, and several anthologies. She is the poetry editor for eFiction India. All of her work can be accessed on her blog sheikha82.wordpress.com