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January 30, 2018
 

Bring Back Our Girls

 
Marwa Helal
Marwa Helal reads "Bring Back Our Girls"

About This Poem

 

“Here, x the unknown [as in algebra], x that denotes the [porno]graphic, x that marks the treasure, replace the outlaw letters: G, I, R, L, and S. A heavy-handed use of the Oulipian form, the Beautiful Outlaw, to be sure. But I’d risk being heavy-handed when it comes to marking the various ways the desecration of women is built into everyday English language and thereby our lives—those double entendres we learn as children and take with us into adulthood. The poem also speaks to the numerous ways in which a woman standing up for herself relies on the labor and testimony of other women, as well as how the system guarantees her/their potential revictimization in our collective liberation. Finally, the poem reclaims the co-opted ‘me too’ movement and gives it back to those who most need to be heard.”
—Marwa Helal

 

Marwa Helal is the author of Invasive Species, forthcoming from Nightboat Books in 2019. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Poetry by Helal

 

I AM MADE TO LEAVE I AM MADE TO RETURN

(No, Dear/Small Anchor Press, 2017)

"Poem about My Rights" by June Jordan

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"Helen of Troy Does Countertop Dancing" by Margaret Atwood

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"I Might Have Dreamed This" by Kirsten Dierking

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January Guest Editor: Kaveh Akbar

 

Thanks to Kaveh Akbar, author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf (Alice James Books, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day this month. Read more about Akbar and our other guest editors for the year.

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