Elegy for the Eldest Daughter
The Eighth Station
Help us realize that we are meant to be carriers of light, not bearers of darkness.
Grandmother mourned the loss of Lebanon and innocence the smell of thyme and sesame slow roasting in the oven. The smile on her son’s face before communion wafers and wine was reminiscent of her last supper in Upper Galilee where figs were sticky when ripe and a fish was blackened on both sides and she ate the eyes first. She sold her gold wedding ring to pay back debtors during the great depression. Grandfather laid car parts for an Oldsmobile factory in Flint to feed his family. He dreamed of Greater Syria at night and the ancient streets of Aleppo where he gave out milk to strangers in full moonlight.
Gray Jacobik, “Glissando,” acrylic gouache on cradled birch panel, 18″ x 18″ x 1.5″
Permanently
Inheritance
Shabab suria
Danielle Badra is the author of the chapbook Dialogue with the Dead (Finishing Line Press, 2015), a collection of contrapuntal poems in dialogue with her deceased sister. She received her BA in creative writing from Kalamazoo College and her MFA at George Mason University. Her poems have appeared in Outlook Springs, 45th Parallel, Rabbit Catastrophe Press, The Greensboro Review, and Duende, and Split This Rock's The Quarry.