.png)
Isra Hassan
back
next
the poet
Somali-American poet Isra Hassan, originally from Minneapolis, is currently based in Washington, DC. She's had her poetry published in Guernica, Poet Lore, The Waterstone Review, The Insurgence, The Penn Review, Poetry Online and elsewhere, while her debut poetry manuscript was a finalist in the 2023 Center for African American Poetry & Poetics Book Prize.
the poems
Sigh
For Hoyo
a bodice for your being
an accordian for your presence
when was the last time you thanked your lungs
air and i
could you tell we’re biological sisters
shared umbilical cords
and crawling space
dispelled
from the cavern of a woman who introduced love to us
before we saw the light
we being us both
we
and we’ll always be a we
we cried
we sighed
we rejoiced
Of Thee, the Solemn Fluid Sings
Repentance drapes over a matriarch’s tear,
her prayers sedating the quantum nocturne.
With it, an avenue of light begins its harmony,
murmuring of a kingdom come.
Archetype
The Ingénue
The abyss grins at me,
I spit in its mouth,
or perhaps, perchance,
I am the spit in its mouth …
Regardless, there and there,
together, our wets
worship each other.
Publishing credits
Sigh: The Wake (Vol. 21, Issue 3)
Of Thee, the Solemn Fluid Sings / Archetype:
exclusive first publication by iamb
