Category Archives: The Next Chapter

“You Can Be the Last Leaf” is a 2022 collection of poems by Palestinian novelist and poet Maya Abu Al-Hayyat. Her poem “Mahmoud,” relayed in full below, is told from the perspective of a would-be mother, imagining a son whom … Continue reading →

The Thing Is… to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you’ve held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hands, your throat filled with the silt of it. When grief sits … Continue reading →

I couldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for you being dead. It was time for glitter, nail polish, and locs. Glitter in my nail polish. Glitter in my locs. You wouldn’t have loved me loving myself; my … Continue reading →

Death is a favor to us, But our scales have lost their balance. The impermanence of the body Should give us great clarity, Deepening the wonder in our senses and eyes Of this mysterious existence we share And are surely … Continue reading →

I remember a four-legged animal strolling through a fire. Poverty in a prom dress. A girl in a bed trying to tune the AM radio to the voices of the dead. A temple constructed out of cobwebs into which the … Continue reading →

Although I love flowers very much, I won’t see them when I’m gone. So in lieu of flowers: Buy a book of poetry written by someone still alive, sit outside with a cup of tea, a glass of wine, and … Continue reading →