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To Clara Hawwa (1936–2022)

 

Beirut, Lebanon,

you hard-wired, hard and wiry minx

in the luxurious bathrobe.

 

You rub your weary face,

in the middle of Shi’a town,

smoking, taking sensual drags of​​ your cigarette,

eating bread and radishes, drinking tea.

 

You were familial1, in the kitchen,

humming along to faded music,

was that you?, cooking the​​ stuffed intestines​​ 

in olive oil, and sweating?

 

What is it about that impulse that seeks​​ 

impalement when threatened?,

that seeks a breaking,

in the place of a scalding?

 

The entire time I knew you, you never cried once,

you’re a man, and a thin one at​​ that…,

after we have sex, I look at you different,

because you remind me of her.

 

1

​​ “To Francisco X. Alarcón (1954–2016),” Eduardo C. Corral,​​ Academy of American Poets​​ (2020)

“Karaoke” by Jon Perry Davis

Kaleem Hawa writes about art, film, and literature.

Jon Perry Davis is an outsider artist and musician living and working in Brooklyn. He currently focuses on painting, drawing, and songwriting. Although he does not consider himself an overtly depressive or morose individual, his work often depicts scenes of chaos and despair. Sometimes the works are spacious and minimal, and other times cacophonous and cluttered—mirroring two drastically different states of life. As an abstract artist, he aims to create a portal in which the viewer can be carried away on their own storyline.