By the Acacia Trees

Poetry by Reem U. Aldeek

The slain enemies

They must be subdued

When I sleep, I reminisce the weaving folktales of vivid garments my father told When I fall asleep, my enemies watch over my dreams

With the vigor of the dead and the blue melody rises I am on a silent quest to avenge for my fathers’ absence Me alongside my twin snake, the perfect alliance

While I reflect on my intention

The airy drapes flies open, breath seeps through the windows The breaths of the swiddens, the breath of the woman who awakes to her past in a vicinity to fulfil her prophecy

The breath of the acacia trees

I was enslaved and reluctant to face the chaos But I am significant in the echoes and shadows of my existence

Another day arrives, a womanly day

Diaphanous in metaphor, complete in being

A little bit new

A little bit not Beneath the nonchalant air that hooks into every crevice of my skin My amulets will undulate gold, and my exhausted scars will gleam

Until good omen arrives I’ll replant my will to slay the mangubat And I’ll worship the land of my people That will worship me back

But for now, I lift my father’s ghostly arms from the furls of my chest and I say out loud: This is the same blue sky I have loved ever since I was a binukot And you’ll know where to find me

By the acacia trees