I am haunted

Oct 16 ● BY S.M. Badawi

by wombs filled

and emptied

like Adam’s rib

I sometimes carry the scent

of lemons, their rinds

round as evil eyes

I recite prayers

and my ancestors respond,

there is no good, no evil

only sand where language

fragments and clumps

when salt rushes to meet it

BY S.M. Badawi

S.M. Badawi is an Arab American poet and teacher whose work has been published in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Cream City Review, Orange Blossom Review, and many other journals. Her poetry has been featured in Poetry Daily and has been nominated for Best of the Net, the Nina Riggs Poetry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. She is a Tin House workshop alumna and has received fellowships and awards from Summer Literary Seminars and Florida Atlantic University. She can be found on Twitter @smbadawi.

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