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Fist
The octopus frightened me the first time
I saw it I didn’t believe
something so strange lived even in a place
I couldn’t see
it flew forcefully through the water
a human hand gesturing
with a dancer’s confidence and sometimes
the anger of a fist
I stood before the tank in the darkened room
beads of spotlight scattering
upon the water’s surface
the heavier oil of light
plunging down into that square of cold sea
Karina Borowicz’s forthcoming book, The Bees Are Waiting, was selected by Franz Wright for the 2011 Marick Press Poetry Prize. Her work has also appeared in AGNI, Poetry Northwest and The Southern Review.
Qalqilya
beautiful old land
an oasis surrounded
by the
security wall
a single gate
to protect us from
ourselves
we are so precious they
only open it
twice
a day
Khadija Anderson returned in 2008 to her native Los Angeles after 18 years exile in Seattle. Khadija’s poetry has been published in print and online extensively and her poem “Islam for Americans” was nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize. Khadija holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles.
qarrtsiluni 