bird bath & kari edwards
i write from Lublin, Poland, where i speak with thousands of ravens. twice a day i stand outside for a bird bath. at sunrise and sunset, the ravens crest the horizon.
not only am i immersed in beating wings and feathers, but in sound.
the ravens have seen many wars and many genocides. they carry the secret language. an alphabet that comes after grf, after knwldg, after mmry.
all the vowels are missing.
for folks in Berlin:
on Saturday, December 2nd, i am co-hosting a poetry event in celebration of kari edwards with my beloved friend poet a. Monti. it’s going to be EXQUISITE. i bought a whole pack of candles and we’ll hold the event in candlelight because it’s better that way. we plan to re-visit kari’s work, listen to recordings of hir reading, and generate writing in her honor.
a profound beacon of poetic and creative rupture, you can learn more about kari edwards here and here.
then read this dazzling review of BHARAT JIVA by CA Conrad.
we love you kari edwards!
yours in poems,
emet
poems:
Good Night, World by Lublin-born poet Jacob Glatstein, trans. from the Yiddish by Marc Kaminsky, a scathing and brilliant rejection of colonial European “culture” and “democracy”
Gaza Notebook by poet Mosab Abu Toha, published just before his kidnapping by Israeli Occupation Forces in Gaza
Poems from Palestine by Zakaria Mohammed of Nablus, translated by Lena Tuffaha
other things:
“Western audiences, much like their politicians, are not willing to engage adult Palestinians, whose razor-sharp critiques would potentially offend them” The Right to Speak for Ourselves by Mohammed El-Kurd
My friend and poetic collaborator, Rachel Edelman, has a new book coming out in January! Pre-order Dear Memphis here from River River books!
on Wednesday, November 29th at 19:00, i’ll be reading poems for a Free Palestine at Spore Initiative in Neukölln
I just finished reading Tigers on the Tenth Day by Syrian writer Zakaria Tamir— I’m absolutely enthralled by the way Tamir uses the short story to explore different internalizations of violence. Read a translated excerpt here.