This is a Body

This is a body
You can touch me
I am organic matter
moving constantly.
Sometimes you let me be.
I breathe and smell and rot.
Sometimes you interfere.
I break and burn in the sun,
but sometimes, you watch me
run.

These are raindrops, or planets seen from a distance.
Do not mistake them for footsteps, or birthmarks.
These are real. Touch them.
Mistake them for errors, or scars.

I do not want to break
my face in half.

I shy away from the dying
of desire.

Tell me I am still
beautiful to you.
I will smile
until you do.

Farah Chamma is a Dubai-born Palestinian spoken word poet. She performs multilingual poetry, mainly in Arabic, English, and French.

Edited by Zeina Abi Assy.

Myriam Nehmeh is a Lebanese photographer based in Dubai. She runs mashrou3_suwar, a photography project on Facebook and Instagram.

Featured image courtesy of the artist.

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