Collateral - Nida Fiazi
their jet-fueled fists
shatter my grandfather’s brittle bones
on his way to the mosque
to pray for the daughter he lost
on September 11
steel blades rip
my father’s beard
sever ties with
generations of men
he is no longer
the enemy
my mother’s blood turns to ice
as their claws
tear at the scarf
on her head
white schoolchildren
hurl insults like needles
into the spines of brown kids
Terrorist.
Bin Laden’s granddaughter.
Go back to where you came from.
notice the way they echo
the hatred of their parents
fabric whispers in protest
as it slips through unsteady fingers
male and female
Muslim and Sikh
fold their identities
place them in a wooden chest
at the back of the closet
Deah and Yusor
foreheads touching
eyes closed
lost within empty gazes
executed
shot
in their two-bed
stacked with unpacked boxes
by their white neighbour
who wanted to play God
headlines after terrorist attacks
if the perpetrator is white
Lone Wolf
Disturbed
Patriot
but
Violent
Muslim
Terrorist
if the perpetrator is brown
you receive a letter in the mail
unassuming black ink on ivory
titled PUNISH A MUSLIM DAY
they have hurt you
they have made your loved ones suffer
what are you going to do about it?
50 points to throw acid on a Muslim
200 points to torture a Muslim
with electrocution
skinning
a rack
these are the victims of 9/11
attacked
first by terrorists
then by bigots
2,996 people died on September 11
hundreds
of thousands
have been paying for it since.
Contributor's Note
Nida is second-year student at the University of Waikato. She is a Muslim, Afghan and a former refugee who, as a bibliophile, strongly advocates for more representation of the aforementioned labels in literature. If no one else will do it, Nida is up for the challenge.