noqa yana kashani

noqa yana kashani

A poem in Quechua and Spanish reflecting on time in Cusco, Peru. Style inspired by poetry in Pink Reef by Robert Fernandez.   ñañay,   noqa yana kashani,   una pequeña estrella brillante con   el guiño de la noche,   guiño de la noche   de la pequeña estrella...
It’s Been Such a Long Time

It’s Been Such a Long Time

You expect the sand to be forgiving, but it will claim all of you, everything you have while your mind is fixed on the incandescent glow of the horizon.   You expect the clouds to be protecting, the shade on your shoulders burns deeper than the sun’s hues. but the...
On Burqas

On Burqas

  In Istanbul, the owner of the pashmina shop said, “The body is like a gift between husband and wife.” He said the burqa, the hijab, were like human wrapping paper.   I take scarves from the shelf, unfold and refold some, drape the red one over my head, align the...
Walking in Marrakech

Walking in Marrakech

Walking in Marrakech   An afternoon coated with raw meat, curry, urine, leather, donkey shit. Multilingual chatter of the souk: so many bells and wagon wheels, motorcycles and metal welders and, in the thick of it all, the hiss of a cobra.   Henna designs spilling up...
Aphrodite’s Answer

Aphrodite’s Answer

  after Sappho*   Stop your sighs now, friend. Comb your hair, mend your blouse, and quit pandering for                                     pity. I have seen your                                                 trembling, knuckles all knotted in nerves. Almost nothing...
Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy

Afterward, we worm into the basement of a Mr. Ted Kessler. He watches us pick apart relic from rubble, relent- less relievers, subduing a hoarseness   of tone. Here is his moldy rocking chair. Did he sit here once? To watch the sea romance the sand? We ask now: Does...