the ghosts of the dead sea rewrite the history of drowning by George Abraham
the ghosts of the dead sea rewrite the history of drowning
George Abraham— after Patrick Kindig
sink [ the bodies ] sink [ unholy ] sink [ in their own ] sink sink [ home ] sink [ the bodies ] sink [ i lift ] sink [ zion’s expense ] sink [ in skin ] sink [ & bone ] sink sink [ coarse & crystalline ] sink sink [ & wound ] sink sink [ i swallow ] sink [ or inhabit ] sink [ hot earth ] sink [ welling] sink [ into me ] sink sink [ converging ] sink [ topography ] sink [ of shattered ] sink [ silt ] sink [ i betrayed ] sink [ my ] sink sink [ self ] sink [ country ] sink [ not ] sink sink [ my ] sink [ or maybe ] sink [ i’m written ] sink sink [ into betrayal ] sink [ or death ] sink [ a calm ] sink sin[ earth salt ]k sink [ holy salinity ] sink sink [ of avulsion ] sink sink [ holy ] sink [ escape ] sink [ of fluid ] sink [ entombed ] sin [ in its own] sin [ ghost ] sin [ town] sin [ say Khalil ] sink [ i’m sorry ] sin [ say Gaza ] sink [ i failed ] sin [ say ocean ] sin [ i could not ] sin [ swallow ] sin [ your mirror ] sin [ horizon ] sin [ i am ] sin sin [ everything ] sin [ you are ] sin [ not ] sin [ the history ] sin sin sin [ perhaps ] sin [ is in ] sin [ the blood ] sin sin [ you name ] sin [ parallel ] sin sin [ or maybe ] sin [ the name ] sin [ is a history ] sin sin [ written in ] sin [ blood ] sin sin [ in flesh ] sin [ which is ] sin [ its own ] sin [ holy ] sin [ sound ] sin [ reverberating ] sin sin [ thick ] sin [ in its own ] sin [ blood ] sing [ scatter ] sin [ diffusion ] sin [ say we ] sin [ were never ] sin [ light ] sin [ worthy ] sing [ praise ] sing [ the birthright ] sing [ sunset ] sing sing [ passing ] sing [ reflection ] sing [ unto body ] sing [ not my ] sing [ entirety ] sing [ praise the boy ] sing [ who wandered ] sing [ into me ] sing [ searching ] sing sing [ for air ] sing [ to build ] sing [ God ] sing [ from lifeless ] sing [ ] sing sing [ holy ] sing [ the dead ] sing [ who walk ] sing sing [ in me ] sing [ & become ] sing [ history ] sing sing [ or story ] sing [ strange fiction ] sing [ biblical ] sing [ save for ] sin [ salvation ] sing [ rise ] sing [ risen ] sing [ rise ] sing sing [ rise ] sing [ rise ] sing [ martyr ] sing [ unearth ] sing sing [ human stay ] sing [ human ] sing [ free ] sing [ fly ] sing [ fly ] sing [ levitate ] sing sing [ fly ] sing [ fly ] sing [ by means ] sing sing [ of ghost- ] sing [ fluid ] sing [ refusing ] sing sing [ its own ] sing [ weight ] sing sing sing
MARGINALIA
1.
I don’t know whether I’m sinking or singing. The weight pulls me under. The voice lifts me up. I keep going, not sure which is prayer and which is grief.
2.
I don’t want to be crystallised into silence. I am angry, I am enraged. How many more children have to die?
3.
I carry my grief with me like salt in the mouth.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in Beloit Poetry Journal, Vol. 68 No. 2.
DESCRIPTION
“Our longstanding mission is to seek out and share work of fresh and lasting power, poems that speak startling, complicated, necessary truths and that do so in surprising and beautiful ways. Since 1950, the BPJ has cleaved to a set of editorial practices that enable discovery of vibrant new voices and that foster long-lasting relationships with some of the most gifted, important poets of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.” (Source)
ABOUT GEORGE ABRAHAM
George Abraham (they/هو) is a Palestinian American poet, essayist, critic, performance artist. They are the author of When the Arab Apocalypse Comes to America (Haymarket, 2026) and Birthright (Button Poetry, 2020), which won the Arab American Book Award and was a Lambda Literary Award finalist. They are the executive editor of Mizna, and co-editor of HEAVEN LOOKS LIKE US: Palestinian Poetry (Haymarket, 2025). They are a graduate of Northwestern’s Litowitz MFA+MA program, and teach… (more)
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ENDNOTES
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