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White marble atop the hill

Manahil Bandukwala

Strip the skin off my body and hold
me tight. Take this ugly brown shell, burn
scar, thrown to sea. Let waves batter
me against rocks, shark teeth ravage carcass,
oil spill on pale water.

Strip the skin off my body and hold
me tight. Take this ugly brown shell, burn
scar, thrown to sea. Let waves batter
me against rocks, shark teeth ravage carcass,
oil spill on pale water.

Paint my flesh white, liquid seeping into veins.
Let me walk through these ornate doors, drip
my whiteness on marble floor. Let no one forget,
I am now white.

Manahil Bandukwala is a poet and artist born and raised in Pakistan and currently making a home in Ottawa. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming with the Puritan, Ricepaper, Bywords, and Coven Editions. She is an editor for In/Words and recently published her first chapbook, Pipe Rose.

Tags: Changing Language | Manahil Bandukwala | White marble atop the hill

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