P for Patience
Asnia Asim
waiting for . . .
. . . that unwritten
posthumous book
to water its words down these dry
dry
spasms
melancholic
. . . for skin to regrow
soften this awkward coke
bottle of a body
ready not yet
for the lusty opposition of your godly
thumbs
. . . that gargle lacking inhibition
you once called it
laughter
to erupt before smoke
chokes
this throat into a tumor
. . . your drones flying so graceful
your radioactive jesuses
to one day
contemplate at least
the carcinogen
mohammads hiding in my caves
. . . that unwritten
posthumous book
to water its words down these dry
dry
spasms
melancholic
. . . for skin to regrow
soften this awkward coke
bottle of a body
ready not yet
for the lusty opposition of your godly
thumbs
. . . that gargle lacking inhibition
you once called it
laughter
to erupt before smoke
chokes
this throat into a tumor
. . . your drones flying so graceful
your radioactive jesuses
to one day
contemplate at least
the carcinogen
mohammads hiding in my caves
Listen to Asnia read the poem here:
Working notes
Some acts of existence are emotionally and spiritually precarious. For example, being a Pakistani Muslim woman living in the United States, falling in love with the life this country helps you build on your own, and yet seeing it drone your land and its people every day. This poem is one of a series of poems I have written in an attempt to better understand this dilemma that agonizes many Muslim immigrants in America. Each stanza represents a personal gap between desire to achieve something and fear of not being able to do so, and the concluding lines underscore the same gap but in a larger global context.
About the author
Asnia Asim explores the contours of identity crises, immigration, displacement, and art through her poems. Asnia's work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Milo Review, TYPO Magazine, The Wayfarer, Mandala Journal, Timer Creek Review, Desi Writers Lounge, and The Maya Tree. She was winner of the first prize among 1,300 contestants from 108 countries in the 2005 World Bank international essay competition, Building a Secure Future – Seeking Practical Solutions.