I was very happy to be among the poets featured on WNYC radio for the National Poetry Month #NYcityverse challenge. You can listen to the 3-minute radio spot here.

Don’t our demons look cute
In the daylight?

A plastic tiger, hippo, bear–
Each no bigger than a fingernail.

Someone else swallowed them.
Now they bobble in our blood,
Indestructible.

One day
A grandchild will cough up
A tiny panda,
Remnant of a forgotten war.

I overheard a man in rags croon in blooming tones
that overwhelmed the silver grey sky,
the silver grey gates,
the silver grey discs behind my eyes.

Digital photo of Acrylic on canvas. 1995.

(c) Safia Jama

we face north / south / east

our backs to the west

Digital photo. (c) Safia Jama 2014