Memory, Veronica Torres

a (un)Holy war:

white or Arab,

American or Lebanese,

fought between broken noses almost blue eyes a spangled hijab church bells

a bald eagle perched

on the branches of my homeland’s cedar tree

a grandmother

who always forgets that our tongues

can’t perform the same dances

that her language strangles my lips and

renders my ears unconscious

a classroom full of straightwhiteboys

who shout

allah’ akbar

and kamikaze into my bleeding heart

as if every girl with paper bag skin

singlehandedly shook the twin towers

most of all,

a life like a perpetual doorway.

I’m half in and half out

but could never belong in either room.

About the Author

Meghan Dyer · Central Michigan University

Meghan Dyer is a senior studying English and History Education at Central Michigan University. Her post-graduation plans include moving to India to teach English on a Fulbright-Nehru English Teaching Assistantship Grant. “being half brown is” first appeared in CMU’s Central Review.

About the Artist

Veronica Torres · Florida International University

Veronica Torres graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s in English with a concentration in Creative Writing in 2018. “Memory” first appeared in Oakland Arts Review.