name/s

Andrea Abi-Karam

[arabic the in as left to right from read be To]

impossible are اسم/س
like bodies are so +
one having ugh what
supposed i am fuck the
day it with do to
wake i day after
try + it into up
way the all it fill to
know i like energy my up
many so for here i
wake i names but things
it into up
half on it put +
wanting lineage half / cocked
sharp—peak each—letterform the
expansive—wideness overall its fierce +
all-caps—go/od so looks it
it way the love i powerful fucking
name + bars search internet glitches
in glitches it f(x) like fields
obvious it’s + way race a
does hacking + stealth not—
no but way gender a in glitch
ledger the that tracks one
*generous of son connotes name my of part
god name my of part casual the +
drag perpetual in
unfortunate how thinking without genders
are vowels where construct this
see people— soft so just
see to want they what
timbre—contact eye them give
soft two or one just even
casing back come they + vowels
you over all gender rigid
light blue awful in

________________

ابيكرام*

About This Poem

“‘name/s’ is both a reckoning and a refusal. As an attempt to decentralize English and American constructions of language, race, and gender, ‘name/s’ is written in Marwa Helal’s invented form, the Arabic, and constructed from right to left. Aligned with Frantz Fanon’s second step of decolonial theory, ‘remembering,’ writing from right-to-left reclaims the loss of language imposed by colonial violence. In a non-US context, my first name is held by many genders, but in a US context, despite my genderqueer, post-top surgery presentation, I am overwhelmingly digested improperly and misgendered daily. In this poem, I refuse to accept the US-centric interpretations and pronunciation of my name.”
—Andrea Abi-Karam

Andrea Abi-Karam is the author of EXTRATRANSMISSION, selected by Bhanu Kapil for the Kelsey Street Firsts! Contest and forthcoming from Kelsey Street Press in 2019. They work as the publicist for Nightboat Books and live in Brooklyn, New York.

Poetry by Abi-Karam

EXTRATRANSMISSION

(Kelsey Street Press, 2019)

"if s/one is mocking let it be tender" by Julian Talamantez Brolaski

"A Legacy" by Prageeta Sharma

"Aria" by Jenny Johnson

January Guest Editor: TC Tolbert

Thanks to TC Tolbert, author of Gephyromania (Ahsahta Press, 2014), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read a Q&A with Tolbert about their curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year.

Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

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January 24, 2019