Sarra Said-Wardell

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The Season After Winter / To Jump Suddenly (2011)

Dad has sent multiple texts, keeps calling:

              wake up! habibti, you have been asleep for a long time!

but London is cold and heavy; the days are still
overcharging, one bitter leaf after another, and I don’t know
what to do with my body now it’s been dug out
of sleep – I roll over, pull the duvet up over my head

and I imagine as he is calling, he is cast in light,
dodging birdshot, skipping out into oncoming traffic:

              yalla, habibti! as the axis of the earth tilts, relative to the sun,
              you must pick up a brick and throw it as hard as you can!

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SARRA SAID-WARDELL is a British-Egyptian poet from East London. She has a BA in English and Creative Writing from The University of East Anglia.