"You’re really faithful to your abusers, aren’t you?" by Samiya Bashir

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend February 20, 2018   You're really faithful to your abusers, aren't you?   Samiya Bashir

Like love: first you pick up; then you lay down; then discard; then discard; then discard. That's love. Right? Did somebody say Dominoes? The problem of a street game is you. You're already doing it wrong. Doing it wrong before you wake up. Before you walk up the street. Cross the crowded corner. Case in point: When you reach the bones table, you stop. Stare. Consider. Count. Think: This is a lovely afternoon for a friendly game of dominoes! Call next. Figure they don't hear. Call next again. You call louder. You call in Spanish. Then you walk (again, with the walking) into the bodega. Come out with four 40oz bottles. Suddenly somebody hears. Suddenly the smell of holes burning pockets. Suddenly, the game you watch ends. Like love. Right? Somebody?                Copyright © 2018 Samiya Bashir. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   "As we wrestle with questions of power, agency, our bodies, and our cultural legacies, I've been thinking and writing through my own questions about whether, and how, our bodies are valued or used by others and ourselves. And where do our grand callings like 'love,' in all its potentially violent earnestness, live in this post-post-post-post-modern era of closet cleaning, skeleton dragging, self-caring? Should those grand callings live here with us at all? And, if so, how?" —Samiya Bashir   Samiya Bashir is the author of three poetry collections, including Field Theories (Nightboat Books, 2017). She is an associate professor of creative writing at Reed College and lives in Portland, Oregon.   Photo credit: Nina Johnson Poetry by Bashir   Field Theories (Nightboat Books, 2017) "Imperatives for Carrying On in the Aftermath" by Natasha Trethewey "We Named You Mercy" by Amanda Johnston "To Jamyla Bolden of Ferguson, Missouri" by Naomi Shihab Nye February Guest Editor: Dawn Lundy Martin   Thanks to Dawn Lundy Martin, author of Good Stock Strange Blood (Coffee House Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day this month. Read more about Martin 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 Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning.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