Siwar Masannat

Al Rabyeh

Pete, told of the lapping not a tongue—but
Arabic for hug, more delicate & entire.

If child breaks house stuffs puts television to pieces
At four in anger, I love you & we both love each other.

Reclaim the word: hole. Told will be lonely, always drawing
Circles, always grandfathers dying, always Christmas here.

Skulls burned laughing in cars on television.
The radio travelling all the way here before land is lost.

What happened in the forties? If scared & left house how
Do you know how long you are refugee?

If scared & left then scared & here—scared regardless of
Blood. Went to open, forced opened instead.

 

Siwar Masannat is a Jordanian poet living in Virginia. She holds an MFA from George Mason University. She is the co-editor of Gazing Grain, an inclusive feminist press sponsored by Fall for the Book. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in New Orleans Review, Gargoyle, and Hayden’s Ferry Review.