Noor Al-Samarrai

Abortion Poems

I thought

I could

give grief

a number

of days.

Three,

I said. Thir-

teen

nine-

teen.

And if I could

give teeth

to a lion,

I would.

wake before the dog barks
a matter of course
a gentle test
a cut
the one dot.
lemon in it.
fruit.
wakefulness is––
wanting to wake.
instead—waiting.
to exit the dream
of ghosts
to solve, the problem of ghosts.
fleshly,
not to wait.

I have a hen
who crows

I am someone
who rarely knows

what she is
doing.

Sometimes I’m all right
with my life, like

today.
I’m sitting on the yellow

couch and my belly
is nervous and warm

with love. A private
moment. A little lemon

moment, so precious I pick it
over, I pick it over, I pick it over

anything.