by Mohammed Ahmad<\/p>\n
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Joseph, Usife,<\/p>\n
Which name should I choose?<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you say Usife, or you\u2019ll leave them confused\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Said grandma starkly, crouched up with amuse,<\/p>\n \u201cRemember they don\u2019t like you!\u201d <\/em>She sneered, chugging her plastic juice<\/p>\n leaving the bottle bruised, I watched her nervously,<\/p>\n As the sun laid back at the dinner table of blues,<\/p>\n Fine China filled up with kisses and achoos.<\/p>\n The violet sky swallowed black,<\/p>\n Crickets drowned by yesterday’s news,<\/p>\n Aunts and Uncles sneering and gocking at the name that I use,<\/p>\n \u201cWhich name?\u201d<\/em> They asked, as I answered back unamused.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph fits you better, Usife won\u2019t land an interview!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I gave a broken smile, then peered upon a French painting, decorated with a naked angel<\/p>\n Dancing pretty and fainting, I saw a tiny squiggle of a name I knew,<\/p>\n Squinted my eyes to see \u201cYassir Yosef\u201d written in baby blue,<\/p>\n They said I\u2019d always be backwards in their eyes, embedded with rue<\/p>\n An Ishmaelite, that Canaanite, this Arab,<\/p>\n I sat there smiling, squinting, blushed and kissed, like that very Boucher Cherub.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mohammed Ahmad is a Palestinian actor and writer from Colorado. He is currently pursuing his MA in Professional Creative Writing and Poetry at the University of Denver. When he\u2019s not writing or on camera, he enjoys traveling and learning languages. He is currently working on a book of poetry that he intends to publish by May of 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n
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