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In: Anthology

Other Ways of Saying – Nour Kamel

after ‘Glossary’ by Safia Elhillo

 

ya nihar azra2
            oh blue day
                                    from sacre bleu
meaning
                                    the french were here

ragel lousy!
            that guy’s lousy!
                                    from the british
meaning
                                    they said it to us, often

7ewar over shwaya
            it’s a bit over (the top)
                                    from some tv show
meaning
                                    I don’t know which is which

merci
            thank you
                                    from a lady’s mouth
and never
                                    shukran

farang
            the whites
                                    here, there, colonized everywhere
meaning
                                    whiteness, us less

mind chokes on
            two words (at least)
                                  and wonders why
nothing
                                 ever comes out too good


Nour Kamel is perfectly lit and writes things from Cairo, Egypt. Their chapbook Noon (2019) is part of the New-Generation African Poets series and their writing is featured in Asameena, Anomaly, Rusted Radishes, Khabar Keslan, Ikhtyar, Voicemail Poems, Sukoon and Closet Cases (Et Alia Press, 2020). Kamel writes about identity, language, sexuality, queerness, gender, oppression, femininity, trauma, family, lineage, globalisation, loss and food.