A Poem by Amber Atiya
Author: Poetry Editor
March 3, 2016
This week, a poem by Amber Atiya.
arizona is a dream state
a large buck crushed by the grill
of a gray pick-up no one notices
how the clouds bridal, ache
to be given away, adored
to a new tribe, trees suicidal
when it heat waves & i hallucinate
smoke rising from the heart
of pomelo, butterflied ruby, singed
blond of the rind, know then
my nephew has crossed over, mistake
night for the underbelly of a spider
the false borders of animal of soil
of cactus of tar in brooklyn
the very air’s gone vegan & vintage
blocks from where my family mourns–
who will hold them in a city
where solace’s one good arm
swells when it rains? on a bus
two thousand miles from red
hook screaming the name of my dead
& before a silent choir
of mountains i unsheet him
——
AMBER ATIYA is the author of the fierce bums of doo-wop. A native Brooklynite, she is a member of a women’s writing group that will be celebrating 14 years this spring.
