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    A Constellation of Half-Lives
    A Constellation of Half-Lives
    A Constellation of Half-Lives
    Ebook93 pages46 minutes

    A Constellation of Half-Lives

    By Seema Reza

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    About this ebook

    A Constellation of Half-Lives is a collection of poems that attempt to reconcile the crisis of living on a collapsing planet with the unreasonable joy of loving and the pleasure of being alive.

    With careful precision and an exquisite eye for detail, poet Seema Reza examines what it means to be a mother, a daughter, and an American in a time of war. Through second-person poems she questions whether the beauty of this world outweighs its fragility and risk.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWrite Bloody Publishing
    Release dateApr 22, 2019
    ISBN9781949342031
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      Book preview

      A Constellation of Half-Lives - Seema Reza

      Bernanos

      DEAR KHADIJA

      Somewhere beneath this pink moon you

      mourn a child

      into the soft terrain of your cupped palms

      you whisper the verses

      we were taught as children

      Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un

      ∴

      When was the last time your mother pulled a comb through

      your hair, divided the black strands into

      three sections & crossed them tightly?

      Have you forgiven her betrayal?

      ∴

      What is common between a helmet

      & hands cupped over the hollows of eyes

      how does a flak jacket relate to a veil to

      red lips high heels the drag

      of razor over knee cap?

      ∴

      What is it to exist within the confines of your skin

      what aches have you stopped noticing

      what grief causes your limp

      whose voice speaks to you

      from the mirror?

      ∴

      humanity obscured by layers

      of Kevlar & camouflage,

      you would not recognize him in a line-up

      if mothers like you were allowed such a thing

      he fears sleep, sees your son in dim hallways &

      shiny shopping malls, in museums

      built to honor men like him

      RECONCILIATION

      I.

      Long ago I was a leaf turning my face to the sun. The muscled

      shoulders of the lioness were mine. I waited for a breeze. The

      hair on my body protected me. My soft belly was my wealth.

      II.

      bending to lace shoes with calloused thumbs

      humming in a broken voice along a dangerous path

      adding water to stretch the soup

      raising torches in the street

      teaching a father to read

      building a wall

      weeping with a neighbor

      devotion & destruction in

      every scarred moment

      III.

      We sent you into harm’s way. We put you into situations where atrocities were possible. We share responsibility with you: for all that you have seen, for all that you have done, for all that you have failed to do.¹

      IV.

      a force of heat-seeking miracles

      complete &

      fragment

      shatter &

      rebound

      slinking ribs

      pulsing organs

      the unyielding grace of shin bone

      crease & purple bloom

      keen & failing senses

      hunger & thirst

      desire

      scattering like shrapnel

      hunted by foxes / like foxes

      1 In reconciliation ceremonies for veterans, Unitarian Universalist Minister Chris Antal leads civilians to recite this

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