My Name on His Tongue: Poems

after a reading by Khaled Mattawa

77 after a reading by Khaled Mattawa1 1 your place in the world is solid my place in the world moves without a schedule is based on mishaps unwanted affairs political discord my place drifts between Here and There West and East sometimes gets lodged In-Between my place is a Somewhere that cannot be found on any map was detached as I was born in a place that belonged to neither of my parents can’t be an immigrant if you haven’t left somewhere can’t be a native if you’re from somewhere else 1. a Libyan poet living in the US 78 which is why I’m fluent in the language of exiled souls my place in the world got misplaced like luggage sometimes on clear days or smoky nights or during peace marches or poetry readings I remember the fine leather the soft but durable hide the confidence in the brass handle my place peeks out during certain questions who is your father? are you related to the queen? where is Palestine? questions that can’t be answered by someone with no place no wreckage to trace all gone-before-me generations 2 my place re-relocated with the arrival in airplanes of 19 foreign nationals my tent packed itself up in the spitting face of evangelical Christianity vanished like Merlin ebbed away each time George W. Bush spoke 79 lost its permanent residence misplaced its green card folded itself up origami-like catapulted into the cosmos I know it is somewhere drinking coffee drinking whiskey watching satellite TV writing a poem last night when you told your story in that sweet voice that wrapped around English, Arabic, French, and Italian like a member of the Ringling Brothers my place popped out between your words under the shadows of your accent next to your kind laughter coated in the forgotten protocol of eastern greetings it doesn’t matter that you are a stranger you’re not really you’re a reflection a visiting relative to my Somewhere In-Between telling your story my story in lines that wooed some confused others with words that embraced me like a grandmother 80 like a lover and for 58 minutes brought me back to my own true place ...