poppies are not
(Enough
I
drink a blood sunset down
Cardinal Avenue.
my
shoes soaked poppies my mind quiet as
a
book with a bomb
in its mouth.
was
it at the bus stop the fruit
leather that hung like
a
general's ribbon from the hands
of a homeless child
that
reminded me of the red truth dripping down our
throats?
she
wishes upon a bone moon. the
same moon
that
climbs in my eye. our gazes
meet up there:
an
"almost" neutral
territory.
her
smile a coca-cola
scar.
-Daniela Elza
Used by permission.
Published in Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here: Poets and
Writers Respond to the March 5th, 2007, Bombing of Baghdad’s “Street of the
Booksellers.” Editors: Beau Beausoleil and Deema Shehabi (PM Press,Oakland, CA,
August 2012)*
Daniela Elza has
lived on three continents and crossed numerous geographic, cultural and
semantic borders. Her work has appeared in well over 60 publications. In
2011 Daniela launched her first e-Book, The Book of It (now also in
print). Daniela’s poetry collection, the weight of dew, was published by
Mother Tongue Publishing (2012). Her poetry book Milk Tooth Bane Bone
is forthcoming with Leaf Press (April, 2013). Daniela lives and writes
in Vancouver, Canada.
*On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in
Baghdad. More than thirty people were killed and more than one hundred
were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling,
a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. Named
after the famed 10th century classical Arab poet al-Mutanabbi, it has
been the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual
community. This anthology begins with a historical introduction to
al-Mutanabbi Street and includes the writing of Iraqis as well as a wide
swath of international poets and writers who were outraged by this
attack.
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