hayati
LAYLA MAHER
desert beauty / why do you despair / desert beauty / you are in your prime / why do you cope / with juvederm and dextromethorphan /
3 girls walk into a patriarchy / and get all their drinks for free / and find god at the intersection of Russell Parkway and the dance floor / why would you need family / or faith / when you have a / white boyfriend / to tie you to the train tracks / to push you into the river / to be your / knight in shining armor
you are a desert beauty / why have you forgotten your name / comprising vapid prayers / of rescue and mercy / they make miracles and / cauliflower hummus / when they gentrify your name / drown it in dark purple lean and deep-fried / apple pie / you are in your prime and you / have no name /
1 girl walks into a mosque / the other 2 free themselves in a / fever dream and / don chanel no 5 / before dumpster diving / for a god made of something more / than bloodlust and men / 2 girls gnaw on red roses / sticking out from their lips / and love each other / for the copper liquid they share / spilling into their mouths /
desert beauty / 1 says to the other / what is your name / desert beauty / you are in your prime / desert beauty why do you despair //
3 girls walk into a patriarchy / and get all their drinks for free / and find god at the intersection of Russell Parkway and the dance floor / why would you need family / or faith / when you have a / white boyfriend / to tie you to the train tracks / to push you into the river / to be your / knight in shining armor
you are a desert beauty / why have you forgotten your name / comprising vapid prayers / of rescue and mercy / they make miracles and / cauliflower hummus / when they gentrify your name / drown it in dark purple lean and deep-fried / apple pie / you are in your prime and you / have no name /
1 girl walks into a mosque / the other 2 free themselves in a / fever dream and / don chanel no 5 / before dumpster diving / for a god made of something more / than bloodlust and men / 2 girls gnaw on red roses / sticking out from their lips / and love each other / for the copper liquid they share / spilling into their mouths /
desert beauty / 1 says to the other / what is your name / desert beauty / you are in your prime / desert beauty why do you despair //
Layla Maher is a Palestinian-American writer from the deep South. Her creative writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Mizna, Hobart Pulp, Maudlin House, and elsewhere. She is a 2020 Brain Mill Press National Poetry Month Shortlist poet. In her free time, Layla likes to read, hike, and seek the silver linings. You can find her on IG @sarsoura_isdoingherbest.
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THE AUTHOR ON MUSCLE MEMORY
"hayati" works with the idea of muscle memory through repetition. Here, we see the protagonists rapidly go through a surreal series of scenes: growing up in a patriarchy, partying, enter dubious relationships, existing as an alien, and then splitting as one finds religion and the others keep searching for a source of peace. All the while, we experience the same thoughts and questions over and over again: why do you despair, you are in your prime, what is your name, honing in on the concepts of confused longing and quests for relief. & ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE KALEIDOSCOPED For me, to be kaleidoscoped is to be multifaceted simultaneously, existing in many places at once. These places are physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional: more importantly, they feed off of each other. At times they clash in ways that are ugly, but at others, they interact in ways that are beautiful and magnificent. It also means that one shift in any dimension, even slight, can have ripple effects on all other elements of one's life. |