Bab Touma
Bab Touma:
fragments of an old
hymn catch in the night—
the jasmine branches are
dried & cracked in wintertime
we get lost, a priest leads us
home with an armful of
olive branches that fall on
the cobblestone, possibly
linked to magic
fasting
fasting
yearning
for chocolate,
a bed of roses, two angels
on my shoulders &
i wonder their names.
a vessel of plum wine & the tartness
of olives, the familiar taste of home,
you on my tongue. the road to heaven
is heavy with your jewels. the pilipili prostrate
to the moon, ripe berries fill their
honeyed, holy mouths
pilipili: followers of the goddess Inanna in ancient Sumerian festivals; young women who were blessed by Inanna and then given a spear, transforming into a man.
Levantine Palm Reading for the Uncertain
Shirin Abedinirad, Mirror of the Heart #2, 2019. Land art, Andorra la Vella, Andorra. Presented at the Andorra Land Art Biennale, the work transforms the door into what the artist calls “a mirror of our heart,” inviting viewers to face both themselves and the landscape behind them. Reflecting “our immediate past,” the installation becomes a meditation on self-awareness, memory, and the possibility of change. Artwork courtesy of featured artist Shirin Abedinirad.
