They rewrite me
Until I make sense to them
They tug at my phrases and stretch me
Until I make sense to them
They translate me
Limb by limb, into a foreign language
My mother can’t read me
I get tossed away into rummage
Lost in translation,
I’m barren.
Lost in diction,
I cross the margin.
Please,
Don’t let them rewrite me
Into short proses and clauses
Please,
Don’t let them erase me
From ancient books and faces
Existing in different tongues
I belong everywhere
From the Middle East to the Americas
My name rewrites itself on a flare
Which language fosters me?
Which language understands me?
How did I fail
At pasting myself here
My words become so frail
I can’t express and adhere
How did I fail at translating myself?
From Arabic
To English
How do I go back?
Back in translation
Into a language that no one speaks
With some adjustments and tweaks
Could I belong in the creaks?
Of some foreign language.
Or do people like me
Get lost for eternity
In translation?