Summer Wood, poetry by Nameera Anjum Khan at Spillwords.com

Summer Wood

Summer Wood

written by: Nameera Anjum Khan

 

Gaping at the summer wood between my teeth
My grandmother is a tree extending beyond the Verandah
Her skin drapes the chirping evening shadows & in her hair,
Ribbons of a forgotten story tighten around the hues of Henna-

She remembers to paint the white strands orange every week
And calls me by every name but mine

I turn into a dentist, plucking stories from her rotten teeth
They stink of a future I never knew;
My grandmother wakes up to the 1970s & a National Emergency has been proclaimed

The only emergency clinging to our ribs is a therapy that leaves no canvas for the Henna to settle upon;
The cloudless skies seem to vapourise as a tree sheds its name

She is the daughter of a King now, she lives in a Palace of gold
She eats diamonds after each meal and her hair is the screech of a raven doused in young, energetic frivolities

Summer wood and too many gaps,
We witness the dysfunctional tides flowing between & beyond the crevices of time.

Nameera Anjum Khan

Nameera Anjum Khan

Nameera Anjum Khan believes that poetry is a voice that can never be subjugated. Her work has been published in anthologies such as ‘World on Trial: The Earth’s Grand Vengeance’ by Witchesnpink, ‘Inked Fables’ by The Inked Square and 'The Kali Project' by Indie Blue Publishing.
Nameera Anjum Khan

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