eh here,
tsil listen
t otto the
ecoocean
Farah Ghafoor is fifteen years old and likes the way
‘poet’ tastes in her mouth. She lives in Ontario,
Canada where she thinks she deserves a cat. Her
work is published or forthcoming in several places.
Find her at worrdwoman.tumblr.com.
Farah Ghafoor
when papa gave me conch shell
he said I could hear the mermaids
tinkling but I wanted to hear God.
I didn’t say that of course
but my hands wanted a voice
because I ate my tongue
in the womb (they tell me.)
I stuck my fingers in the shell
looking for the last Prophet,
sending peace upon him.
it must’ve not been very convincing
because I couldn’t take them out.
papa had to smash it with a hammer
when he couldn’t see me talking.
its spider-webbed shield fell like eggshells
and my nails could have too. maybe
something heavenly was in there
because gratitude found me crying.