Poem 1:
Locked the doors
And swallowed the keys
If there is to be consumptions of my beginnings
I’d rather have it root from within the pit of my belly
- “mother, kill her.”
Poem 2:
The guilt
Was so quiet
And so polite
To invite me over for dinner
We had a feast.
I sat and ate and ate and ate and ate
Until I was so full of quiet
That I became guilt himself
And now my breath freezes as it leaves my mouth
Now whatever I touch leaves a trail of dust
When I eat all I taste is heat
And all I can think of
Is to sleep
In remorse
“you are what you eat”
Sana Zia (she/her) is an 18 year old Persian writer and artist based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. These poems circulate around a rather tense period of her life where, she felt exiled to people around her and the person she loved. Being in the same room as the person you love that resents you is enough to suffocate time, space and how they present themselves. Simple imagery when pressed on has enough influence to communicate how she felt to a reader without explicitly describing it. Read the words carefully. And as the image plays out; you will slowly feel what I felt too.