Salat el-Sobh

Season of Olives & other poems

Umbrellas and Crosses

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Hazem Fahmy
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Salat el-Sobh

by Hazem Fahmy

In the morning, afraid
of the stillness that often refuses
to leave my body, I watch
my veins; disturbed
by their visibility. I regard
a map on the wall, and find hope
in the endurance of the uncharted. Every full moon,
I dream of becoming one with a monastery, unfazed by anything that does not concern cheese, or wine, or god. My mother asks me
to put a rosary in my car and I do not resist. She buys me a copy of the book of God so that it may find a home
in my glove compartment and I do not complain. I kiss
the book I have not read
in a decade and leave
it in the car.
Photo courtesy of Cairo Kid
Author

Hazem Fahmy

Hazem Fahmy is a writer and critic from Cairo. A PhD student in Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia University, he runs the literary newsletter wust el-balad, on Substack. His debut chapbook, Red//Jild//Prayer won the 2017 Diode Editions Contest, and his second, Waiting for Frank Ocean in Cairo was published in 2022 by Half-Mystic Press. A Kundiman and Watering Hole Fellow, his writing has appeared, or is forthcoming in The Best American Poetry 2020, The Boston Review, Prairie Schooner, Mubi Notebook, Reverse Shot, and Mizna. His performances have been featured on Button Poetry and Write About Now.

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