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Featured Poem: Change

posted on: Feb 22, 2017

Artwork by Lukman Ahmad

BY: Daughter of the Diaspora/Ambassador Blogger

The darkness that presses along the trail,
Has lost its treacherous reputation.
And the villains that flit through my imagination,
No longer menace me from afar.
I know, you would set the road alight,
To uncover the perils along my way,
But they no longer frighten,
And I am running without fear.

For the first time, Yamma.

So many years with so few to trust,
Lest my secrets escape into the ether.
You said you would take them to the grave
And be their safest keeper.
Secrets  exposed, no longer expose.

I am trusting without fear.

For the first time, Yamma.
I’ve let love spin within small circles,
That never became anything true.
They stretched and retracted their arches,
While I swam within their contours.
I am loving without fear.

For the first time, Yamma.

The change has come within me at last.
It sank its teeth into my skin and offered no mercy.
But it is here for good. It came from me and to me.

But it came because of you. Yamma

About the poet:Daughter of the Diaspora is an Arab American with roots in Palestine and Lebanon. Her poetry is a narrative inspired by the forceful displacement of innocent peoples by war and the permanent and invisible scars it leaves behind. She focuses on the refugee experience in the Arab world and, in particular, on the Palestinian Diaspora, as she sees it from the perspective of mothers and daughters.

About the artist:

Lukman Ahmad is a Kurdish artist from Syria. He began his career in 1986 and has lived in the US since 2010. His expressive motifs are a reflection of a Kurdish culture that adores colors. For more information on Lukman Ahmad’s work please check his website www.lukmanahmad.net