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a literary journal published by the Black Earth Institute dedicated to re-forging the links between art and spirit, earth and society

Section 2

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

 

 

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