In America, I imagine<\/p>\n
Noah after the flood; see<\/p>\n
his old hands burrow<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
into the land, the lost<\/p>\n
parent finds his child. Dalida<\/p>\n
and Fairuz and Imam all sing<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
of the land, but I know<\/p>\n
not the difference between soil<\/p>\n
and skin. Still, I swallow whole<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
that which does not love me. In New Cairo,<\/p>\n
I lost God. In Old Cairo, I pray<\/p>\n
to concrete and hanging wood. My mother texts me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Today, it is 41 degrees Celsius<\/p>\n
in all of Cairo. I ignore white people<\/p>\n
who try to explain Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Connecticut makes me<\/p>\n
grateful for the weather<\/p>\n
back home. I am puzzled<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
by New England<\/p>\n
architecture. I have no windows<\/p>\n
to pray to. February in this country<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
numbs my fingers, makes me<\/p>\n
forget where my blood<\/p>\n
flows. I spit extra hard<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
at the ground when it\u2019s snowing<\/p>\n
and I\u2019m smoking just to spite whiteness<\/p>\n
itself. I\u2019m still around. I can leave<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
a mark. Even as I kill myself<\/p>\n
I am still surviving<\/p>\n
you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In America, I imagine \/ Noah after the flood …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2635,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[518,519,520,521,522,523,524,525,526,527,528,529,530,531,532],"class_list":["post-2634","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-cairo","tag-connecticut","tag-dalida","tag-egypt","tag-fairuz","tag-god","tag-hazem-fahmy","tag-imam","tag-new-cairo","tag-new-england","tag-noah","tag-old-cairo","tag-race","tag-suviving-skin","tag-weather"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n