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January 2021

English-language poem by authors of Arab heritage (adult), judged by poet Hala Alyan   Runner-up "Bribes de Corps" by Huguette Caland Our bodies have become a carousel. When a rescue dog sniffs through the rubble of a collapsed building—we hold our breaths like hope—before spinning again. Everywhere you look, healers are cleaning the wound but we’ve stopped asking, what will grow of it? Nothing. Our bodies no longer believe us. Look at the sky, how it has turned pink to cover up the ammonium gray. It has never looked so sorry. A thought I like to recreate: joy is the body disappearing, grief

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English-language poem by authors of Arab heritage (adult), judged by poet Hala Alyan   Winner "Chanson Mystique" by Suha Shoman Nothing lost stays gone forever. Like a storm cloud wavering over Mt. Ebal, pinned to the sky as a dove in the watchtower’s eye. I ate an eskadania & I became soft-plumed & dented as a hill’s hide, daughter to nothing but milk & music. This is no God, not in my sand-cradle, not in my land if the land stays stolen. Say missing. Say mystic. Say miracle- maker or mother, cloud dust or even better—oil & za’atar. How names can change a thing. I ate a loquat while angels dipped their heads

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