Aisha Arnaout

Silently She lived
Silently She died

( 1 )
Silently
She lived
SilentlyShe died
useless cuntthey said, after they knew
I
fell to my knees
before her corpse
Stripped her
of the shroud
with my nailswrote on her tombstone
Something


( 2 )
He put on his shirt, carried his umbrella
Uttered no word
Neither did I.
After he left
I stood in front of the mirror
Slit open my tongue
to see if any words were caught there
AlasI
only saw the muscles and the veins.
I mended the tongue
Burst out laughing
- laughter is not a word Then I smashed the mirror.

Since then

I have been breaking mirrors In vain

Searching for one
That would reflect
No more; a mirror
That would break me.


( 3 )
It troubles me
that water is colorless
air is tasteless
the hymen.
is without tears.
The tenderness of thorns
their perpetual renewal
Wounds me:
The neighing of extinct beasts
in my blood
The scream of demons
dead under the trees
of remote shores.
I lay my rough palms
over a man's foot
a passing stranger
And bless my children