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crip wisdom ghazal

By Tala Khanmalek

unbound pages carry my inheritance from Baba
a strategy to get around the system, like Baba

after more surgeries and swap meets confined him to bed
how you passed the time in pain, I couldn’t fathom, Baba.

all night he would read tales about the Orient express
each chapter pried out (thrifting was a custom for Baba).

even paperbacks are too heavy to hold, he said—but
the weight of English words, how can we overcome Baba?

I balk at pieces of stories binder-clipped together.
natars, you can rip books apart: crip wisdom by Baba.

 

 

 

Listen as Tala Khanmalek reads “crip wisdom ghazal.”
Added: Monday, October 31, 2022  /  Used with permission.
Tala Khanmalek

Tala Khanmalek | mecca monarch (all pronouns) is a queer, disabled, Iranian writer, editor, and scholar. Their poetry has appeared in Split This Rock's beloved Poem of the Week Series for which they also served as a First Reader. 

Image Description: Tala Khanmalek stands in front of a microphone on stage with papers in hand to read poems. Tala wears a black t-shirt with a denmin vest over it and hoop earrings. Tala's long, dark brown curls are worn lose over their left shoulder and down their back. 

Other poems by this author

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