Burial

by Homa Mojadidi

Burial

If I was there
      I could’ve cradled his fallen body
Wiped his blood with
      the hem of my dress
Smoothed his raven-like hair
      placed a final kiss upon his forehead
Memorized the shape and color of his eyes
      before I closed them a final time
Washed his body with my tears
      placed him in the soft earth
Built him a monument with words—

But I knew him only like a dream
      a memory that keeps growing thinner

            with time’s fine chisel—

---

Poet Homa Mojadidi is an Afghan American poet and translator. Her work has been published in Asymptote, Washington Square Review, One Art magazine, and Beyond Words Literary magazine. Homa is pursuing an M.F.A. in Creative Writing in poetry from George Mason University where she also teaches English composition and creative writing.

Artist Shelbey Leco is a New Orleanian artist who is a fiction writer, and sewer. Most of her work focuses on mixed media portraiture art. Her art was inspired by her grandmother. When Shelbey was little, she often went through art supplies, which her grandmother could not keep affording. Instead her grandmother would give her pens, to fill in negative space with patterns from coloring books. As an adult, Shelbey incorporated vibrant color and materials.