issue 2
Koukash Review
2023
On the 13th day, our Persian blood
Obligates us to open all the windows.
Wash every rug and hang them from the rooftops.
(Let all the neighbors know we pledge allegiance
To carpet weavers in Herat.)
The birds are waking me up again.
This is why the year begins in Springtime.
We are a superstitious people.
Make the day good or it will follow you for 364 days more.
It is not enough to let the past haunt us.
Regret can, too, be a verb.
Chase out the bad luck
By running from the regular parts of our lives
And instead spend this day of all days
With the plots of grass reflected in our little pieces of sky.
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