Hedy Habra: “The Keyhole”

THE KEYHOLE

This is not the outline

of a silhouette.

I am drawing a keyhole

to find my way

out of my own cell.

This is the black silk

thread spun by the ink

brush rising out

of sweat and blood.

          —After Wadada Leo Smith’s Red Balance

Hedy Habra has authored two poetry collections, Under Brushstrokes, finalist for the USA Best Book Award and the International Poetry Book Award, and Tea in Heliopolis, winner of the USA Best Book Award and finalist for the International Poetry Book Award. Her story collection, Flying Carpets, won the Arab American National Book Award’s Honorable Mention and was finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. Her work appears in Cimarron Review, The Bitter Oleander, Blue Fifth Review, Cider Press Review, Drunken Boat, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Gargoyle, Nimrod, Poet Lore, World Literature Today, and Verse Daily.

Table of Contents | Next Page