Spring 2008

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Fiction

Carnage
Najiyah Diana Helwani – Syria

Idris Ahmed wondered what had happened. At first there was just bewilderment. A sense that something huge had happened … but beyond that, just a void. All he remembered was buying vegetables. Then the pain clued him in.

Pollywogs
Serene Taleb-Agha – Syria

Raya was doing a good job grieving. I had expected tears, which I could handle. I would be cheerful, crack a few jokes, and she would fight back the smile, just like in the old days. But she didn’t even cry. She just sat there in her velour housedress with her eyes aimlessly scanning the floor tiles while her kids threw plastic toys all over the place.

 

Poetry

Last to Live
Maryam Amir – Malaysia

Whispers that breathe in the shape of a triangle...

In Lieu of Sacrifice
Tiel Aisha Ansari – United States

I circle round this thought
afraid to touch or get too close.

Thanks to Mohammed
Chris Cryer – United States

I go
slow
now,
wherever,
however…
 

A Kind of Growth
Bryon D. Howell – United States

My arms and fingers grazed the razor wire
Reminding me I have been here a while.

A Walk to Myself
Aziza Marini – Syria

Deep inside Souk Hamidiyah there’s an old Damascene house.