Incomprehension

04/18/07

Your gaze trips me up,
It twists my tongue
oozing the Indian ocean
 out of my pores

I open my mouth to speak
sharpening my American-ness
but all I hear
is a crisp accent
shattering
on glassy floors

mirages dissipate

A raised eyebrow
is just as bad as the manner
in which you nod
enthusiastically
furtively hiding the skeptic gleam
that glosses your eye

A decade of polishing
melts
and the little insecure girl
is exposed

clutching an ill fitting
head scarf
too garish
either over dressed
or under
stood
bewildered by this
alien s/kin
that she is so suddenly
conscious of

your gaze freezes me

I unfurl my tongue
to say one thing
but thousands of words
crowd my throat

You have to understand
there is no simple statement
or assertion
that can bear the weight
of standing alone

I need cliff notes
to couch my
utterances
so you don’t fall over
the edge

“Oh” the perfect vowel
of recognition
a breath meant to convey
comprehension
yet somehow managing
to more erect walls

Your gaze anchors
me in that place
where disillusions
dissipate
the naive in me

the lines have long
been drawn

you stand on your side
and I, on my mine

Parallel points meeting
only in the sight of incomprehension.

Posted by Maliha Filed in Poetry

6 Responses to “Incomprehension”

  1. sf Says:
    04/18/07 at 12:30 pm

    “I open my mouth to speak
    sharpening my American-ness
    but all I hear
    is a crisp accent
    shattering
    on glassy floors”

    Ahh,spoken/written from my *angle*. Growing up we had a different accent. Crossing over the oceans, going to colleges,mingling with different pple from different parts and let’s not forget the canadians, eh! My *tongue* is so *messed* up and what comes out of my mouth sounds so alien, even to my own ears. :(

  2. Haleem Says:
    04/18/07 at 10:10 pm

    Beautiful! though I guess you have to be a hijabi girl to ‘get it’ fully…

  3. Maliha Says:
    04/19/07 at 8:50 am

    Salamaat,
    Sf: awww…welcome to being a “global soul” :)

    Haleem: really? I would think any one who has left what they consider home might be able to relate to it?

  4. Suroor Says:
    04/19/07 at 9:17 am

    Beautiful!

  5. Haleem Says:
    04/23/07 at 7:49 pm

    I must have completely misunderstood the poem then! I thought it was about a hijabi girl feeling out of place in an alien atmosphere.

  6. 1st Muslimahs Speak Up! Carnival « Writeous Sister Speaks Says:
    05/12/07 at 11:06 am

    [...] Maliha at Lightness of Being shares a poem, Incomprehension.   [...]

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