How silly to wash the
very feet that
loathed another
step
But Allah says walk
to me and I will run to
you
I don't know of a return route
from the well of
hopelessness
Allah says I am still a believer
Watch the runoff circle the drain
Allah promises even this I will
forget, one day
I really did end that life.
A new one begins here
Water pebbles down the forearm
like falling dates
Maryam begged to end her life, too
Don't cry so hard, you just
washed
out all that snot
And Maryam is among those Allah loves the most
Elizabeth Shanaz is a New York based writer. Her work has appeared in Playboy, Human/Kind, Defunkt, PREE Lit, Blood + Honey Literary Magazine, Last Stanza Poetry Journal, and the Blue Minaret, among other journals and magazines. She was nominated three times for the Best of the Net Anthology in the category of poetry. She studied writing and literature at CUNY City College before earning her law degree from NYU School of Law. She is the proud child of Guyanese immigrants.