TRACK//FOUR
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BACK TO VOLUME ONE // ISSUE THREE

BLACK DESIGN

AHMAD ALMALLAH
I .

When the CT tech said to me, you are 
lucky, I smiled. I said, you think. He said 
nothing in return, and I got rolled out 
of my luck to another affirmation. Yes, 
I am lucky when the nights come quick, 
when I gather the flock of my thoughts 
beside me, when I close my eyes to keep 
​watch over them. Yes, tonight I am.

II.

You are lucky, the next day a neighbor 
said it again. The thing I said was not 
the same. The smile I made I began 
to feel. Abrasions I thought is wording 
gone a bit too harsh. How could they be 
unkind to this streak of luck. Medical 
records are usually harsh, not in their 
affirmations. In the way of words they are.

III.

It was morning, I unlocked my bike 
and went flying into the air. Luck 
suddenly—thank God it is what it is. 
Thank God I was able to dive into this 
black design. Thank God for the wise 
CT tech and the insight of neighbors: 
of course abrasions can be turned to
affirmations. Of course we are all a bit 
lucky, a bit unlucky, but mostly we are.

IV.

It does not end, does it? And just 
when you think you are over all, over 
disaster, someone reminds you: you are 
you. Someone tells you that you need 
to count the hours within the hours, 
and remember the counting. Someone will 
point at you with an index finger: slowly 
the slab of flesh around bone comes close, 
​slowly you follow and with luck you go astray.

Originally from Bethlehem, Palestine, AHMAD ALMALLAH has been living in the US for the past 17 years. He is a poet and a scholar of Arabic literature. He has taught at Middlebury College and the University of Pennsylvania and is currently pursuing an MFA in poetry at Hunter College.
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  • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • CONTACT
    • CONTRIBUTORS
  • ISSUES
    • VOLUME ONE >
      • ISSUE ONE
      • ISSUE TWO
      • ISSUE THREE
      • ISSUE FOUR
    • VOLUME TWO >
      • ISSUE ONE
      • ISSUE TWO
      • ISSUE THREE
      • ISSUE FOUR
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • BLOG