Closing Out the Year Strong!

In 2022, I had some awesome accomplishments! Even though life was very busy, I wrote several new poems, sent in several submissions for publication and continued studying Palestinian Tatreez (Indigenous Arab embroidery). 

The AWP literary conference (www.awpwriter.org) was held in March and I attended virtually. I was a presenter on the panel  “n/evergreen: Arab/Indigenous Ecopoesis & Environmental Literatures.”

President Biden signed into law that… April is now Arab American Heritage Month. I cried when I read the news. This is such a wonderful achievement that so many people worked hard to make a reality. For the first Arab American Heritage Month media campaign, the Radius of Arab American Writers, Inc. (www.rawiwriter.org) included one of my writing prompts in their promotions… what an honor.

 I enjoyed the Adabiyat Book Club and reading! I read many books this year. I joined the Shahrazad Squad; a group of creatives coming together to share stories, diasporic experiences, grow creative connections and empower activism. I look forward to doing more with them in the future.

In December, I attended the virtual global Outright Summit put on by Outright International, an organization advocating for human and civil rights for the international LGBTIQ community. What a hard-working organization. We heard from very courageous activists, from all over the globe, that are advocating for human rights and facing down violence to do so. Some of the presentations are available on the Outright International YouTube Channel. I highly recommend checking that out.

Throughout the year, I have been working on several projects and also have some literary work pending publication in 2023.

Thanks for checking out my blog. I hope you have a great rest of the year.  

Existing Through Me

     Our past is where the roots of our family legacy can be found. Reflecting on how that legacy is showing up in our present moment is often the work of artists/authors/activists/creatives. In this poem, the “she” represents the spirit of many things; from people to land. It is thinking about my grandmother and my grandfather's first time back in Palestine after being in the North America for over 20 years. They only returned a couple times during their lifetimes.  A big part of my time in Palestine focused on discovering my heritage and spending time with my family. Many of my family elders in North America would have made the trip with me had they not been sick or already passed away. Time goes by so fast. I was going to our homeland and taking them with me in spirit.

     The poem starts out with my roots and legacy dying, but that was just an illusion. The roots were becoming an even deeper part of who I am. Just as Palestine and her people always were...the children’s smiles, the limestone sand, the mint tea, and the activists asking me to join them.  
 

      This poem reflects a choice. A choice that many of us face no matter what our ethnicity or religion. A time comes where we have to make a choice. A choice to deny or embrace who we truly are and where we come from. In this poem, see that my spirit is a blending of the past with the present… my existence is a renewal... a renewing...a renewing of: legacy, love, family, ethnicity, and a renewing of spirit...woven within a declaration of identity.   

Poem Excerpt:

Existing Through Me

 

I die in my drying roots. Waiting patiently.
As patient as a crow waiting for perfect wind
and perfect wind never comes.
Water still falls.
Crying out,
her,
crying her out, 
but she is never gone
her essence
lining the breath just between then and now.

Written by Micaela Kaibni Raen

On a Refugee Wind

By Micaela Kaibni Raen

(Excerpt from a longer written work.)

Jerusalem lights set to fall

as the Imam’s call dances as desert dust in the wind’s effulgence.

He stands

motioning of the breath’s breeze

as the wind runs through his chest.

Standing steadfast in his life of courage

a courage risen in fear

like a skin pulled and stretched with an elasticity tight

filled with resistance, rebellion and faith.

Guarding vigilantly

he remembers the cries as they had come from those he held

those he caressed before death

holding onto feeble breath in the shadows of night.

His arms,

thick branches,

reach, holding the face of a scream

as his leafy fingers hold the cheeks

around the open-lipped mouth that would not mute of blood.

His soul prays

in ancient verse

we have forgotten

but the land remembers…

he knows that your home remembers you

it cries with your blood’s pouring

rages with your leaving in the brown-smogged sky

yearns for reparation, repatriation and return.

His toes curl

rooting into the soil

molding into his leathered sandals

holding onto the shadows of night’s beginning.

His faith transcends

the perched sniper’s aim

and his song flies as hope upon breath

through his chest

carried East to Jerusalem’s prayers

as a song unheard

on a refugee wind.

Performance Update for AWP Conference 2022

Going to AWP? Check out our awesome panel with great discussion and literary readings. Title of the event is “N/evergreen: Arab/Indigenous Ecopoesis & Environmental Literatures” and it is happening at 10:35 AM EDT on Friday, March 25th. Virtual Panel. Live in the chat. I am honored to be included with such talented artists/writers: Amir Rabiyah, Ahimsa Timoteo Bodhrán, feras hilal, and Janine Mogannam.

Description of program: Pluralizing and problematizing simplistic notions of land/sky/water, womanist and queer/trans Palestinian and mixed-race Arab/Indigenous poets, non/fiction writers, performers, and editors examine the ways space and place shape and guide our work. Surfacing stories grounded in geohistory, this panel will discuss the connections between Nations and narration, bodies (of work) and the lands and waters from which they emerge, and decolonizing dialogues of ecopoetic and environmental literatures.




So excited for this panel and discussion. Come join us for an awesome session!