issue 2

Koukash Review

2023

pigeonholed

Hanna Kherzai

The urban doves coat his taxi door 
Like supplicants gathered together 
All of them amassing him in a feathered hug 

The same creatures in every photo I’ve seen of Mazar e Sharif’s Blue Mosque 
There is this picture of a woman amongst the birds there 
The blue of her burqa same as the walls 
And I can imagine the way her eyes are closed 
Can see the shadow of her rocking in the hip hop beat of the taxi in front of me 
Two souls bound by the breadcrumbs in their hands

Hanna Kherzai

Submissions - Fall 2022 100% I3 Hanna Kherzai is an Afghan-American poet who aims to root her work in anti-imperialism and community. Hanna is passionate about reproductive justice, public transit, and refugee health. She is currently a second year medical student in so-called Chicago, land of the Three Fires Confederacy, Potawatomi, Odawa and Ojibwe Nations, as well as other Tribal Nations that know this area as their ancestral homeland. Turn on screen reader support To enable screen reader support, press ⌘+Option+Z To learn about keyboard shortcuts, press ⌘slash

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