● POETRY IN VOICE
THE KAABA, THE SHROUD AND THE VEIL
By Nadia Irshād
New Paragraph
packing pots
pulling fist fulls out of thick plastic bags
studying the grains of dark softness crumbling
held captive between flesh and fingernail
under this potted vessel
life will emerge
the womb braced by the throne
mercy compacted
within skin, a spread of compressed clay
woven into fascia
a braid, rods of dna and bamboo
one by one, an ancestor tied one to another
a long blood vessel that leads us to our mother
the bridge is built by our father
during a heavy windstorm
the tree that stands outside my front porch
shifts it's weight
the veil flutters
we can all catch a glimpse of her, the Kaaba
the leaves sway as they prostrate
we close our eyes and fly, legs flexed
on the tire swing hanging from the thickest branch
in my minds eye I trace the rings of the tree stump
circling between flesh and fingernail