Samia Saliba
i am no longer interested in writing poetry i am only here to dance
we enter a room from two corners.
we enter a room from two corners
only to dance
i dance; you feed
you feed; i dance
a dark and dying stem,
we flower. ok,
it wasn’t a word
i knew before. mirror,
you taught me
(it’s ok i’m dying to credit;
dying to cradle a tongue)
mirror, you named me,
instead of heaven because you
wanted to see light in me, even
if only reflected
ok,
i wanted to see it too.
we enter a mouth from two teeth,
you feed me
sound and letters, letter and sounds
mirror, mirror, mee-roar ⎼ a hair tracing my earlobe
has nothing but love
only mirrors, we dance ⎼
only mirrors, we dance until the heart seems plausible
until a radio echo burns us a copy, ok
what is enough and where can i find it?
we enter a room only to music
to mimic a mirror
that feeds a story
a dance enough
to feed a body
a mirror enough
to feed a dance
a dance enough
to mirror what
feeds you,
to know
to be real
and choose
not to
(ok
the blushing sunstroke
and
the deep-white bite-
mark and
the space between us ⎼
ok.) ok.
we enter a room from two corners
only to dance
i dance; you feed
you feed; i dance
a dark and dying stem,
we flower. ok,
it wasn’t a word
i knew before. mirror,
you taught me
(it’s ok i’m dying to credit;
dying to cradle a tongue)
mirror, you named me,
instead of heaven because you
wanted to see light in me, even
if only reflected
ok,
i wanted to see it too.
we enter a mouth from two teeth,
you feed me
sound and letters, letter and sounds
mirror, mirror, mee-roar ⎼ a hair tracing my earlobe
has nothing but love
only mirrors, we dance ⎼
only mirrors, we dance until the heart seems plausible
until a radio echo burns us a copy, ok
what is enough and where can i find it?
we enter a room only to music
to mimic a mirror
that feeds a story
a dance enough
to feed a body
a mirror enough
to feed a dance
a dance enough
to mirror what
feeds you,
to know
to be real
and choose
not to
(ok
the blushing sunstroke
and
the deep-white bite-
mark and
the space between us ⎼
ok.) ok.
Biography
Photography by Shiyam Galyon (shiyamgalyon.com)
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Samia Saliba (she/her) is an Arab-American writer and historian. She edited The Rachel Corrie Foundation’s Shuruq 4.5 Writing Showcase for writers of Arab heritage (2020) and was a RAWI Wet Hot Arab-American Summer fellow (2019). Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Vagabond City Lit, Rusted Radishes, Mizna, Sumou Magazine, and elsewhere. Find her on Twitter @sa_miathrmoplis or in real life petting a cat.
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