first words

when
frayed books
in
frayed schoolbags
become
an Official Threat
at an Official Whim

when
a made-in-china
mass market
fickle prop of play
becomes
an
unmade-in-jenin
12-year-old Man

when a little girl
‘scared to death’
according to the
Official Transcript
is ‘shot to death’
instead

and three-year-olds
who won’t sit still
could lead
to
“confirmation of a kill”

I wait for my
baby cousin
to ask-
“they shoot children don’t they?”

Published by

saaleha

I am a writer and photographer (look up my work on www.shootcake.com) based in Johannesburg, South Africa. I have an MA in Creative Writing from the university currently known as Rhodes. My writing accolades include winning the 2014 Writivism Short Story Prize and the 2020 Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize for my debut collection, Zikr.

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