The pen is mightier: Remi Kanazi talks back

Palestinian-American spoken word poet Remi Kanazi isn’t afraid to say what he thinks. The opening lines of his Rambling Poem on Israel and America are characteristic of his unapologetic, in-your-face poetry. Read More »

The Dead Keep It

There are grooves and holes
In rose rock.
They were alive before you and I
Came by
And briefly unclasped our hands
To touch them.
They are alive within the airless space
Of now.

They’re wrinkles
On the face of history.
History is a tired woman.
History stands by the side of the road,
Her cheap necklaces toll for you.

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Sasha, Charlotte and Taymoor

One I strangled with the pearls
You once dived for in a boutique.
One I rammed with a creaking taxi
(Prayer beads over the rear view mirror
Nancy on the stereo).
One I left out in the night,
When the desert cooled off
And the spit of the dogs
Grew hotter.

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My Moveable Feast

I spoon you into my mouth,
Fingers twitching
At the handle.

Tablecloth violated
By sweet little drops
And spills.

Until the moment
Of no more,
No more.

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Throw me a fag

Throw me a fag.

You know what? Just get over here.

I’ve been thinking… Remember those days? When we moved seamlessly through life, often asking ourselves if it could possibly be any better? If the passersby, the colossal statue we shared with them and the same one we fought over, were true to reality? Was it merely an attempt of evading a series of conventional bores? Or did we really come across love in its most infant form?

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A Happy Surprise

You say you wanted a happy surprise,
A jewel in a piece of sugared dough,
Something to crack a molar on and more.

A life that’s a feast fit for a troll,
A grain of sand that’s bursting with the world,
- All the things you say you want.

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Little Murderess

I flew miles and miles to reach your bed,
Where men speak a different language and women say nothing at all.
Here night crouches at the threshold like a hungry cat,
There the eyes of stars are bloodshot with the dawn.

The back of your head contains sweetness I’m afraid will spill,
I’m always chasing it in a crowd.
It’s like a high a young, toothless woman mumbles about,
When she accepts an offer of a cigarette and remembers better days.

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Sugar

Someone stole
The sugar from the bowl -
On the little backs of ants,
Or the shiny beaks of crows.

I will shake my futile fist
Or I will rip my yellow hair;
It won’t matter, it won’t come,
Once it is no longer there.

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People in the News

People in the news
Look tired of themselves.
Tired of being fondled,
Like children minded by
The wicked Uncle Ernie.

It’s a long way to travel -
From a hospital drop-off lane in Gaza or Kinglake
Through fiber optic cable.

They’re shuffling their feet
On someone’s living room threshold. Read More »

Love Song

I’m glad you didn’t know me before,
Back when I was a vampire with a hungry rattle in the throat.
The night was like a sock wedged on the head;
If I could, I would have turned it back.

I have weathered and leathered my hide,
I’m just a wraith now, love,
Wraiths don’t bite.
My teeth are glittering in a glass
Like jewels from a woman’s neck.

God, how I hate the blood in this town, Read More »