“lakes!” he shouted. This was a word I heard many times in my youth in Tuam. I grew up in the arse end of nowhere, and my formative exposures to culture were a collective of seemingly random and incoherent words... Continue Reading →
Had she smiled wider because he was black? She could feel the ingratiating grin spread over her face and then tense as she quickly returned her attention to her drink. They were alone out there on the smoking terrace. It... Continue Reading →
10 I was eager to talk to Hannah and Mariam. I wanted to hear Hannah’s voice. I needed to hear about what she did that day. Did she go to the market with Mariam? I thought to myself all day.... Continue Reading →
On Human Folly At night, when I hold conversations with myself, I cannot logically justify my constant preoccupation with human folly. Whether human folly is the work of God or not, it does not diminish in practice. Centuries often elapse... Continue Reading →
NAMES AND NOUNS at night grandma prays lying on the floor. i hear grandma sleep. mouth open. breathing like she has flies in her throat. i accidentally break off the head of my doll and tell mami that ergon... Continue Reading →
Home I watched the video of the ocean that you sent and read Rumi's "The Seed Market" per your request. It is mid-morning here; a cool breeze brushes my skin while I write. I could see that... Continue Reading →
"He is a little bit late, isn't he?" asked Emina, opening the door. With her hair wrapped up in a wet towel she headed back through the narrow hallway. Slightly confused, I stood there for... Continue Reading →
Generation MM O dearest child, millennial thing, how slow the world must seem to spin, when screens and phones aren't close at hand, a state you scarcely comprehend. Oh what on earth your 'friends' might think? You haven't... Continue Reading →
[KEYFRAME] n. a moment that seemed innocuous at the time but ended up marking a diversion into a strange new era of your life – set in motion not by a series of jolting epiphanies but by tiny imperceptible differences... Continue Reading →
They said it would rain for seven days in Sarajevo, but it still hadn’t; and it was day three since they’d announced it. I couldn’t tear myself away from the fresh air on the balcony and the noise from the next-door... Continue Reading →
I never played with a Sindy. She was my older cousin’s best friend though. I knew a Barbie once. But we never got along well. I’d see her occasionally. She never saw me though. I neither liked her nor disliked... Continue Reading →
“I wonder,” you said. “That doesn’t surprise me,” I answered. “How do you do this?” You were in the phase where you constantly had to lend an ear to your uncontrollable urge for searching. And now you were missing. “Baby,... Continue Reading →
Ramadan has just begun this year—a time of restraint and self-reflection, a time where I intentionally build moments to return to myself amid the everyday chaos of living. Four years ago I was living in Sarajevo; my last month in... Continue Reading →
She was sent off into the world with one piece of advice from her esteemed sire. He told her: “Don’t let them win you on penalties. If it comes down to it, bow out and walk away.” Her father considered... Continue Reading →
Sarajevo meant a lot to me, means a lot to me still, my time there has shaped me, in fact. Everything I took for granted, every dream I was realizing; all painful laborious struggles. The warmth of every hearth I... Continue Reading →
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