Ya Umm El Dunya​

By Issra Tobah

​I am here
and so are the tears,
one for each martyr and one for each mother
who saw her child buried or bloodied.
 
Child of the child of the brain drain,
I am here
and your tide tugs on my heartstrings,
but I can’t heed a call I can’t translate.
 
I am here,
so too are your grief and your hope.
So too are your music and my uncles’ names.
So too are the grape leaves.
 
I am here but,
old and grey,
I’ll come back to you someday.
You’ll be all receding borders and saggy skylines.
 
I pray you’ll clutch me to your breast just the same. 

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Issra Tobah (she/her) is an Egyptian-Canadian poet based in London, Ontario. Her work has also appeared in Ghost City Press.