something scrambled
out of me at least I thought
it was out of me
it could have been into me
very fast very sly
dirty breath’d assassin
spiders
ants earthworms
I witnessed
being dissected by my brothers
and crane flies
I tried
but never managed
to capture
whole such fey stupid wings
and legs left drifting on walls
mostly I was a witness
mostly
I’ve kept
out of the way with
my hood zipped
up to my chin
what is the surest thing
we know?
that as we grow older
we think less of
killing things and more
of coming back
who knows where
we acquire our knowledge
from our mothers aunts
perhaps
they pass it on
like a candle through
an ancient pockmarked door
something parenthetic
like a clasp
broken useless as a rotten wick
a spider climbing
the sublime coast
of your shoulders
walking through those rooms again
a web breaking
on the back of your hand
Mona Arshi worked as a Human Rights lawyer at Liberty before she started writing poetry. She completed her Masters in poetry in 2011 at the University of East Anglia with a distinction. Her debut collection SMALL HANDS, published by Liverpool University imprint Pavilion Poetry, won the Forward Prize for best first collection in 2015. She has also been a prizewinner in the Magma, Troubadour and Manchester creative writing competitions.
“Something” by Mona Arshi. Copyright © 2018 by Mona Arshi, used by permission of the Wylie Agency LLC.
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