2017 Annual Emerging Poets Slam
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I am made for sweat,
Toil is my life.
The break of day my call.
Twilight finds my back bent over the crops.
The savannah, my playground
The door is open –
Come, look inside
I have everything to show
And nothing to hide,
The pretty bedspread with flowers
The sweet fragrance in the air
The warm sunlight shining through the window
I am the granddaughter of an Imam,
The daughter of an Imam’s daughter
And a businessman.
She who knotted together all ends
And sewed a smile on her face
Is my mother.
A strong, independent lady
they call us magical
cus we stay when things seem to get a little tragical
we seem to always be protecting our men
cus when we have no more left in us to do what's right, they become our pen
We the people live in a stereotypical society
That tells us the people what we need be
Blacks are thought to be thugs
While Muslims and immigrants are terrorist
Temples are quiet places for forbidden kisses,
for moments in which the world does not exist,
but is collapsing, as if the giant holding us up decides
to let us fall, as if no gods can reach us.
I exist to please.
But I must breathe, inhale and exhale,
only the sharp cold air
that compresses me out,
that cages me in.
What do I see?
Nothing, but I long for more.
My hand shakes as I reach for the door.
I can barely keep myself standing upon this floor.
I turn the knob, ever so carefully.
And open the door successfully.
I walk in and look all around.
Hey there old friend. Maybe friend isn’t the correct term, so allow me to rephrase. Hello old habit. You and me were best friends. We were the Thelma and Louise of our time and yes we flew over the cliff and plunged into the abyss.
CIRCLES
Time to be honest with myself
When I hit the ceiling with these thoughts in my head
I am falling sick again
Sleep.
It's something I never seem to get enough of.
I don't have insomnia, nightmares, or a bed made of rock,
But I still never seem to get enough.
High school seems like the easiest thing to blame,
All I am to you is a cigarette
You used me this whole time
All you did was feed me lies
I burned up right in front of you
You sat in silence enjoying the view
My thoughts are so deafening I’m surprised you can't hear them My mouth is deceiving and I wish I couldn't move it
Dear, the Most Merciful
I saw the devil today
In the scars on my body
I saw God today
He asked me for what I am fighting
Heaven
Aram Tawoosi
Your love is as clear as the Caribbean
You are the crimson Phoenix inside my soul
Love me until my breath disintegrates
Love is the light in the dark
Love is to open one's heart
It fills your soul-
-makes it hard to breathe
It hurts
Love
It's you
It goes deeper than the sea
Farther than this life
I Am More Shadow Than Man
Aram Tawoosi
He is sinking as I continue thinking about how
He's got the devil around me
Unholy
Aram Tawoosi
Free falling from the sky to your bed
How did I get here?
Your silhouette drilled into my head
Welcome to high school, where you’ll spit acid out your stomach onto the floor and dry heave over the sink.
I won’t tell you that i am trapped in a body that isn’t mine
that i was born in the wrong body
because whether i have a chest or a dick
this body is mine
this body is mine and always will be mine
