The Unnatural Apologie of Shadows

By Nathalie Handal b. 1969 Nathalie Handal

We say lightning has no wings

when it slides down our houses

We say loss is just a condition

we acquire to bury our pity further

We say the bleeding hands

on the table filled with red wine

imported products and passports

are just reminders of

who we have become

We have no titles no birthright

no groves or Shakespeare

to return to

We apologize for the fear

growing out of our ribs

Apologize for the numbers

still etched on our tongues

Nathalie Handal, “The Unnatural Apologies of Shadows” from Love and Strange Horses. Copyright © 2010 by Nathalie Handal. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Reprinted by permission of University of Pittsburgh Press.

Source: Love and Strange Horses (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010)

Biography

Playwright, translator, and editor Nathalie Handal is of Palestinian heritage. She has lived in Europe, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the United States. Handal attended Simmons College in Boston as an undergraduate and earned an MFA in poetry from Bennington College, an MPhil in drama and English from the University of London, and a postgraduate certificate in fiction from Humber College in Canada. She is the author of the . . .

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