Gulf of Aqaba
through coral forest
green pink intricate
nets of living stone
hinged shells filtering mouths
glow of hidden squid
you an ungilled fish
unskilled at breathing
mute with that tube
in your face ahead
a man in the reef
shoves a stick like a mop’s
under and up
the living coral
wedges in
pries chunks
off to give the small boy
above him paddling
on a Styrofoam chunk
you think of women
at the protest think
of their stitches their
shredded clothes the circle
of men so like a ring
of sharks ya haram
you should have said when
you came up
for air
Aubade by the Red Sea
morning call to prayer again
we've slurped another night down
to the last suck of the straw
it is better to pray than to sleep
ripples across the rooftops
to the sea is it praying
to stay awake to bet which peak
the flames will tip first
to witness the first fire
rise between the mountains
and bow over the sea as it reaches
its salt fingers toward us
is it praying if together we
repeat oh god Allah oh god
Allah another day is born
now only sleep can part us
Painting Courtesy of Our Featured Artist Fahed Mohammed Shehab
