Apology from a Muslim Orphan by Tarfia Faizullah

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend February 6, 2017   Apology from a Muslim Orphan   Tarfia Faizullah

I know you know how to shame into obedience the long chain tethering lawnmower to fence. And in your garden are no chrysanthemums, no hem of lace from the headscarf I loose for him at my choosing. Around my throat still twines a thin line from when, in another life, I was guillotined. I know you know how to slap a child across the face with a sandal. Forgive me. I love when he tells me to be the water you siphon into the roots of your trees. In that life, I was your enemy and silverleaf.   In this one, the child you struck was me.            Copyright © 2017 Tarfia Faizullah. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "'I write to you across what separates us,' wrote Czesław Miłosz in 'To Robert Lowell,' a poem that is an apology as much as it is an acknowledgment of how elusive understanding can be when we are deeply entrenched inside our own experiences. I was moved by both the vulnerability and irony inherent in Miłosz's poem, which influenced the writing of 'Apology from a Muslim Orphan.'" —Tarfia Faizullah   Tarfia Faizullah is the author of Seam (Southern Illinois University Press, 2014). She teaches at the University of Michigan and lives in Detroit. Poetry by Faizullah   Seam (Southern Illinois University Press, 2014) "Force Visibility" by Solmaz Sharif "Sleep Door" by Kazim Ali "WWE" by Fatimah Asghar Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. If you enjoy Poem-a-Day, please consider making a donation to help make it possible. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038