ummi

for khayyeh ashraf, khayyeh ahmad, ikhteh maya, ummi and father. for the osman family. my heart goes out to you more now than usual.

we wrap our concerns -
final and fleeting -

in knit blankets and promises
_____of another strike

*

you wrapped your burns
in scented lotions and gauss

allowing for medication
to cure the heartache

*

is the city of your youth
in need of new scars?

broken _____ cloaked
in a putrid layer of ash

*

letting my eyes sting
from the threat of tears

shed in empathy
_____and memory

of what's hidden beneath the wax
that hangs on your dining room wall

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help his cause