The National Poetry Review
Christos Kalli
ODE TO MY UNIBROW
Hairy serendipity Divine bridge
my grandmother crossed
on her way to war
I come to you unwaxed
and free I come to leave you
with what has been left to me
Bedazzled forehead Feathered eyes
thick with the screams
of spear-holding wolf-women
of the sea I come to you blessed
with the weight of heritage
Cursed with hair follicles
of a past that can’t be plucked
History grows on my skin
like a new name Summer of 1974
a blade I keep sharpening
on my tongue Now when I speak
I speak about what has been broken
like a leavened bread in church
Now I keep her black hair
once tangled in flames on my face
On my nightstand a photo of her village
laying flat I want to connect
split islands on my path
I want to nation To split
tweezers in half
my grandmother crossed
on her way to war
I come to you unwaxed
and free I come to leave you
with what has been left to me
Bedazzled forehead Feathered eyes
thick with the screams
of spear-holding wolf-women
of the sea I come to you blessed
with the weight of heritage
Cursed with hair follicles
of a past that can’t be plucked
History grows on my skin
like a new name Summer of 1974
a blade I keep sharpening
on my tongue Now when I speak
I speak about what has been broken
like a leavened bread in church
Now I keep her black hair
once tangled in flames on my face
On my nightstand a photo of her village
laying flat I want to connect
split islands on my path
I want to nation To split
tweezers in half
CHRISTOS KALLI, born in Cyprus, is currently studying American Literature at the University of Cambridge. His poetry has been translated into French, shortlisted for the Jane Martin Poetry Prize (2017), named a finalist for The Ellis Award (2018), and nominated for Best New Poets (2018). His chapbook INT. NIGHT was a finalist for the Sutra Press Chapbook Contest (2017). His poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from the American Journal of Poetry, The Adroit Journal, the Los Angeles Review, the minnesota review, PANK, The Hollins Critic, Harpur Palate, and Dunes Review, among others. He is a Poetry Reader at/for The Adroit Journal. Visit him at christoskalli.com.
The National Poetry Review 