Still Praying

Umbrellas and Crosses

the pericardium as a looking-glass

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Hasan Namir
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Still Praying

by Hasan Namir

                                                                          
Growing up I dreamt I could pray           
                                              الله اكبر الله اكبر                                       

like other 
kids                                                                           

With straight 
         legs, knees I could bend   
                                           اشهد ان لا اله الا الله                                                                                                                      
                
Away from eyes leering at feet 
dragged
to the mosque dreading laughter                                     
                                         اشهد ان محمد رسول الله                                  

Imam’s maim of a chair, politely declined              
                                                حي علي الصلاة                                    

                                                                               

Today, awake,
I find my feet
I pray to Allah
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
alone, in stillness
Photo Courtesy of Roger Camp
Author

Hasan Namir

Iraqi-Canadian author Hasan Namir graduated from Simon Fraser University with a BA in English and received the Ying Chen Creative Writing Student Award. He is the author of God in Pink (2015), which won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Fiction and was chosen as one of the Top 100 Books of 2015 by The Globe and Mail. His work has also been featured in Huffington Post, Shaw TV, Airbnb, in the film, God in Pink: A Documentary, Breakfast Television Toronto, CTV Morning Live Saskatoon. He was recently named a writer to watch by CBC books. He is also the author of poetry book War/Torn (2019, Book Hug Press), children's book The Name I Call Myself (2020, Arsenal Pulp Press), Umbilical Cord (Book Hug Press) and Banana Dream (2023, Neal Porter Books). Hasan was the 2021 LGBTQ2s+ guest curator for Word Vancouver. He lives on the unceded territories of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen First Nations with his husband and their child.

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