"Bring Back Our Girls" by Marwa Helal

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend January 30, 2018   Bring Back Our Girls   Marwa Helal

1.    It bejins in Berlin             A Historical Case       Study       In Disappearance + Cultural Theft:       Exhibit YZ:       Brinj back to me Nefertiti         Her       Bust Take her From behind       the vitrine             For I know where to find her missinj eye             Then put a woman in charje of all antiquities.       She-law: just because somethinj is beautiful       doesnt mean it was meant to be consumed; just because there are       tourists doesnt make it an attraction. 2.    everywhere anytxme atm her       vxolatxon: guaranteed.  sxlence bought             or your settlement      money back. objectxfactxon xn the mxrror xs closer than xt appears.       please mxnd the wage gap. cautxon: not chxld resxstant to open hold        down and turn away squee geez use daxly, mornxng, and nxght             supported by an aroma of certified organxc heavens:       for every gxrl who grows       xnto a woman       who knows       the best threat's:       one she never       has to make             she sublxmates your sublxmxnal       even your affectxon has been xnfected 3. this poem cant go on without hex i mean            hex            heeee x            hex hex and hex             hex          hej heq hez hex she was stolen bought sold lost put undex buxied alive at bixth she was dxagged in blue bxa duxing a xevolution with vixginity tests she waits then she doesnt she sh sh sh shh she left you she the best thing that happened to you then she lilililililiiii she intifada she moves with two kinds of gxace she ups the ante aging by candid defiant elegance she foxgets but nevex foxgives She-language complex she complex she so complex she complex got complex complex 4. she spends her time anxious because she knows she is better than you rang to say she died from being tired of your everything she knows she is fiyne; gorgeous but she hates it when she infuriates and when she jigs and is kind she minds her own business except when she is new and nervous though she is origin previous and impervious she wont stay quiet she is razor sharp and super tired she undarks, vets, wanes, and xeroxes; yaks and zzzzs the day she dreams 5. Me tooa B Me toob Me tooc R Me tood Me tooe I Me toof  N Me      toog G Me tooh                           them       Me tooi B Me tooj A Me took C Me tool K Mem too Men too Me tooo Meep too                    Meq too       Mer too Me too Me too Meu too Mev too Mew too Mex too Mey too Mez too             Me    ((too)) Me                   ((((((((((((too))))))))))))            Copyright © 2018 Marwa Helal. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "Here, x the unknown [as in algebra], x that denotes the [porno]graphic, x that marks the treasure, replace the outlaw letters: G, I, R, L, and S. A heavy-handed use of the Oulipian form, the Beautiful Outlaw, to be sure. But I'd risk being heavy-handed when it comes to marking the various ways the desecration of women is built into everyday English language and thereby our lives—those double entendres we learn as children and take with us into adulthood. The poem also speaks to the numerous ways in which a woman standing up for herself relies on the labor and testimony of other women, as well as how the system guarantees her/their potential revictimization in our collective liberation. Finally, the poem reclaims the co-opted 'me too' movement and gives it back to those who most need to be heard." —Marwa Helal   Marwa Helal is the author of Invasive Species, forthcoming from Nightboat Books in 2019. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Poetry by Helal   I AM MADE TO LEAVE I AM MADE TO RETURN (No, Dear/Small Anchor Press, 2017) "Poem about My Rights" by June Jordan "Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing" by Margaret Atwood "I Might Have Dreamed This" by Kirsten Dierking January Guest Editor: Kaveh Akbar   Thanks to Kaveh Akbar, author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice James Books, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day this month. Read more about Akbar and our other guest editors for the year. Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! 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