Your name
was Spanish
before Portuguese
Portuguese
before Dutch
Dutch
before Indonesian
before Malaysian
before Philippine and
Arabic in your sleep
Your name
was a land bridge
built on cracked-tooth coastlines
and soft-bellied seas
Your name is a morphology
Laut Dilaut Lahud Lau Lutao Palau
for the one unifying body between Sulu and Celebes
Your name is how you've been seen
pilot
thief
beggar
creep
Your name was—or in certain places still is—homeland
hinterseas
inter tides
mudflats
shallows
Shirin Abedinirad, _Evocation #2, 2013._ Land art, Central Desert, Iran. Using mirrored circles partially buried in sand, the work creates the illusion of pools of water, reflecting the sky across the dunes and challenging our perception of nature, absence, and desire. _Artwork Courtesy of our Featured Artist Shirin Abedinirad._
