"the days is numbered" by Marwa Helal

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend June 24, 2019   the days is numbered   Marwa Helal

startling semiannual saccharine sensitivity to sentencing in a season of severing and severances to so called civil servants of streachery and separation i sense a series of spectators or investigators wont save us like stolen generators nothing speculative about spectacles we beasts spit and sputter   spits and sputters splitting sutures of your occipital up your occidental skeptical of this spectacular softness of this plexus flex i choose the best for myself   swearing the swivel of the stank of spangled smear with speared wet spirit spent to coalesce in this nonsense that's the thing about your language is i make it sound so good it doesnt have to make sense they is all what you is where you from  someone tell these oxymorons we is dual citizens former resident aliensss and we have only just begun counting down this society's days with the efficiency of arabic numerals            Copyright © 2019 Marwa Helal. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on June 24, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About This Poem   "This poem came out of the frustration of being asked to speak up at several recent readings, during which I began to notice two patterns: 1. The request often came from a certain kind of woman who thought she was doing the rest of the audience a favor and 2. It was always after I read the fast-paced 'poem that wrote me into beast in order to be read'—so I realized it isn't that they can't hear me, it's that they can't keep up. So I made a poem at a frequency they 'can't hear.' This one goes out to my beast sibs. Taking inspiration from Justin Phillip Reed, Harryette Mullen, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. A question though: What are they doing with all that yoga and meditation if they can't stay present for the poem?" —Marwa Helal   Marwa Helal is the author of Invasive Species (Nightboat Books, 2019) and the winner of BOMB Magazine's Biennial 2016 Poetry Contest. Born in Al Mansurah, Egypt, she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York. Poetry by Helal   Invasive Species (Nightboat Books, 2019) "About the Bees" by Jusin Phillip Reed "Page 72 / mister arty martyr" by Harryette Mullen "Hear Trains" by Caroline Knox June Guest Editor: Samiya Bashir   Thanks to Samiya Bashir, author of Field Theories (Nightboat Books, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Bashir about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. 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