I am landlocked
renaissance sweet-boned with
mishri looking for an anchor
though I cannot swim


in a shallow plate of water

I am
shadow-memory, bitter-skinned with okra
looking for a mirror
because I want to see
how my reflection

is a self-portrait of my mother
imagining herself on the green grass of a foreign suburb.

* The first draft of this poem was written in a Community Building Art Works’ workshop facilitated by Hari Alluri the morning after I read She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks by M. NourbeSe Philip.

Preeti Kaur Dhaliwal (she/her) is Punjabi a critical race feminist, writer, college prof, lawyer, and facilitator who grew up on the traditional territories of the Semiahmoo, Katzie, Kwikwetlem, Kwantlen, Qayqayt, Tsawwassen and Musqueam First Nations (aka Surrey and North Delta, BC). Her writing tends to examine themes of touch, race, grief, trauma and sexuality, and has appeared in the Festival of Literary Diversity's program (FOLD), alt. theatre magazine, PRISM international, Looseleaf, No Foundations, Theatre Research in Canada (TRiC), and the anthology We Were Not Alone, amongst other publications. She loves building community, hanging out with trees and walking beside the ocean. You can find her on IG: @jadooberry and @write.with.preeti.