Previously published in poet’s debut poetry collection Sin of Semantics by Copper Coin Press

Is Pomegranate a Poem

– After Khaled Hosseini’s novel The Kite Runner

The way Herat is always misspelled as Heart
similarly, I spell poemgranate,
a red line trembles under the name of the fruit
open the chambers
the ripe, ruby seeds glisten
in the darkness that Persephone chewed
blue hummingbirds plant their songs in the crown
proud, taut even under a knife

its silver is the eclipse in purple juice
ink bleeds, flushes on body clay
the juicy jewels are fallen angels that touch the table:
its wood is a forest of stories, the veins are verses
flowing down a girl’s throat
who hears the Arabic word ruman
and the romance of something exotic,
something distant,
                      the longing of the unknown and wishes
                      the word takes her body
                      in exchange
her fingers gently touch the crushed crown
the fallen rind, the empty heart
violet lips taste the knife                                        the stubborn metal: her language
turns ruby red, jewel-bright, fountain fresh
its red is unlit calligraphy around the mouth
of a child born in a burning house

About the Author
Saima Afreen’s works appear in The Kenyon Review, Bellevue Literary Review, HCE Review, Barely South Review, Bellingham Review, Roanoke Review, Stillwater Review, McNeese Review, Oklahoma Review, and Notre Dame Review among others. She penned poetry collection Sin of Semantics (Copper Coin) and a poetry chapbook Winter Biomythography (Press 254). She was Charles Wallace Fellow for Creative Writing at the University of Kent, the UK.