partition

deonnakellisayed

May 27, 2013

today, i am unpacking
my inner landscapes and
other topographies

rearranging the map
where the meridian curved and bowed
around the space of you

this business of boundaries
was glorious, indeed,
as i creased and folded to hide the parts of myself
i did not want to see

if i am a country, if i am an exile, then i am partitioned
and my tongue is split between half-spoken languages
even if my heart still pronounces your name with such elegance that
maps peel back their surfaces to reveal
secret skeletons

like my body, with its own feminine landscape –
the one that i am slowly learning to call
a homeland

Poetry

geographical metaphor, geographical poetry, Islamic romantic relationships, islamic spiritualism, love poetry, muslim love poetry, poetry, poetry about maps, radical cartography, self acceptance

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deonnakellisayed

Writer. Storyteller. Coffee Drinker.

3 responses to “partition”

Saha

November 24, 2013 at 4:51 pm

Love this.
JAG

June 7, 2013 at 6:17 am

Truly a brilliant metaphor in using maps to describe the internal worlds of self – even down to the bone as suggested by skeletons.

It is a sort of Sufi vector for : “The map is not the territory”, it comments on how even maps themselves are just symbols and models for reference, navigation and understanding without being the model itself.

The idea of opening a map reminds me of the very opening lines of Hamlet where Barnardo asks: “Who’s there?” and Francisco responds: “Nay, answer me: stand and unfold yourself.”

It is also the scene where the ghost first appears. (Act I Scene I)

BTW, I love maps.
Welcome to Lebanon

June 4, 2013 at 11:55 am

Eloquent, magical. Thanks for
sharing.

Deonna Kelli Sayed

partition

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partition

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