A Timeline of Exile

By Maryam Ala Amjadi
In the end, are there any beginnings
that beg to differ
that even the most winding bloodline
spills from a single trembling point?

The point being
all the names you answered to
at home:

outcast   misfit   deviant

All the red lines you crossed
long before the black-and-white
of any borders.

Notes:

This poem is part of the folio “Broken Lines: A Gathering of Exiled Poets,” curated by Laura Kraftowitz and Edward Salem. Read the rest of the folio in the July/August 2026 issue of Poetry.  

Source: Poetry (July/August 2026)