Citizen, Speaks English

by Sanah Athar

I.
Citizen, speaks English, knows the
pledge of allegiance, drinks coffee with
five sugars, wears blue jeans with American
apparel t-shirts and button downs.
Christmas parties, bag of rocks and
drinking until midnight on the 4th of July,
yards sales and decorated porches.
Pep rallies, Seinfeld episodes, delivery
pizza, The Beatles glued to walls, red white
and blue bandanas with combat boots.

II.
Minority, with an Urdu and Arabic
mother tongue, chai with rusk biscuits,
shalwar kameez for Fajir prayer,
Islamic Sunday School, headscarves.
Eid dinners, dholki functions with a spoon
hitting a drum, and Bollywood playlists.
Eyes looking down, traditional cooking
at 9 years old, daily Quran recitations.
Loose clothes, ankles veiled, figures under
niqabs decorated with henna patterns.

III.
Ripped tank tops, Urdu thoughts translated
into English lingo, cursing. Basement
parties, vodlka, stained prayer rugs, 
shorts in the summer, observing hijab in
Ramadan. Proposals lined up, kissing girls and
boys, Screaming, forgetting Allah, seeking
relief in Mosques, rejected. Aytatul Kursi
necklace, cleavage, and haqeek rings.
Mecca canvas hanging, rosaries,
eight piercings, tatoos, and a Pakistani flag too.

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