Bad Things
- Bad Things
Poetry, Hayan Charara, motherhood
When you were in her womb, your mother used and sold herself, and after you were pulled out
she didn’t stop. For a minute or more you did not breathe; and from the drugs she took
(now in you) your skinny arms and legs shook, but she did not know, already having left
without seeing you. Your father, before and after you were born, took money she made and made her
make more. Over things he did over and over, someone shot him (the bullet lodged but did not kill).
Still, he kept at it, and after prison, to what got him in in the first place, he went back. It’s hard for me
to say these things are bad because, because of them, you came to me and became my son. [End Page 235]
hayan charara is the author of three poetry books, most recently Something Sinister. He edited an anthology of contemporary Arab-American poetry, Inclined to Speak, and his children’s book The Three Lucys received the New Voices Award Honor. He teaches in the Honors College at the University of Houston.
