within the throat earlier than a cry. It’s my father,
altering his god as a result of my mom requested.
After the baptism, his curly hair moist and
chilly like an animal caught out within the snow.
Fleeing from my grandmother, who rushed
after him with butcher knives not but cleaned
of pigeon meat, the untucked bits of her
hijab licking the air behind her like a shadow.
You must return to Egypt, she had mentioned.
Typically, residence is just not a house, however a claw
lodged inside you. A river you step into as a result of
it holds gentle. You’re waist deep, wading
in what mauls you and likewise
what loves you. You permit residence and turn out to be
riptide. What I’ve turn out to be has beheaded
what I used to be earlier than. I carry the pinnacle, knocked
free and bodiless, as I might a plum,
cautious to not crush it in my palm, cautious
to not gag its cry.