Spotlight series #42 : Khashayar Mohammadi
Curated by Canadian writer, editor and publisher rob mclennan, the “spotlight” series appears the first Monday of every month.
Statement: the following two poems are both about my struggle with Alcoholism. I quit drinking winter 2016 and spent the entire winter woodworking as a form of therapy. these two poems, though written a few years after the events they discuss, both try to describe my struggle with Alcoholism, and consequently sobriety.
TWO POEMS
Greg’s goodbye party
it was the last party
at the dingy apartment above the Parkdale taverna
you and I tied as “best noses of the party”
that tall girl came in a close third
we answered her questions like
where you from?
and “why have young people abandoned Rock music?
I necked two litres of Ontario wine
sauntered around the place
begging people to punch me
we stepped on the rooftop
and Greg’s muscular friend
flashed us his 8 pack
he was cirque du soleil
anyway, I asked him for a punch
and he delivered
right in the abdomen
I cried from Joy
came lucid from pain
a pain strong enough for me to clog and unclog a toilet
[pause] static crawling up and down. no signal.
jump-cut to you yanking me off the rooftop ledge
with death gleaming in your eyes and mine
you screamed “What where you thinking?”
and I fell silent
I’ve been thinking of Houdini all the while
Tchotchke
for Felicia
Summer’s gone
Dead leaves destined (for/to) Fall
and my corridor’s mall-white
I’ve said “Fluorescent” too many times
I remembered the doll’s porcelain eyes
lifeless
A gift from Hungary
I only showed a single friend
She admired the orange scarf
And the red skirt
Billowed on a lace napkin ring
I turned towards the fire
Placed orange peels on the mantle to dry
Khashayar Mohammadi is an Iranian-born writer/translator based in Toronto. He is the Host of knife I fork I book’s Chapbook club and the author of Chapbooks Moe’s Skin with ZED PRESS 2018 and Dear Kestrel with knife│fork│book 2019. His poems have also appeared in Poetry is Dead, Bad nudes, Half a Grapefruit Magazine and elsewhere. He is currently collaborating on a full length book of poetry with the Toronto poet Terese Pierre, as well as working on a full length poetry manuscript of his own.
