La Chaleur
Rukhsar Palla
neighborhoods
emphasis on the neighborhoods
no silver creek country club, no evergreen gated communities
not even Seattle’s Cap Hill roads
no drunkards
no flannels, just hijabs
just sweat, the sun, and our driver.
the heatwaves of Casamance lick us
and at first we accept it
la chaleur at it’s finest, causing the fruits
to ripen. here i say salaam and then inshAllah
because everywhere is Islam
everywhere is Muslim
everywhere is halal.
pink salt water washes over my toes
and i think,
to resist is to love.
when i say this to the girl beside me
she interlaces her fingers in mine
and asks,
when did you become such an angry woman of color?
her bottom lip juts out
like a silent apology.
Rukhsar Palla
Rukhsar Palla just received her M.F.A in Fiction from Emerson College. She is currently working on a collection of short stories, vocalizing some of the experiences of Pakistani Muslims globally. Her poems have been published in Fragments, The Cape Rock, Straight Forward Poetry and other literary magazines and journals. In her spare time, she can be found sleeping under her rose tapestry or drinking chai.