& what a miracle: my tiny, tiny body
the way it cannot fold onto itself
for me to touch my toes, how my thighs
seize up in the yoga class as everyone
else gazelles into downward
dog alhamdulillah to my ragged breath
how it pulls and bites the air as I waddle
up the long flight of stairs to my beloveds
who laugh inside the airbnb, who wait
patient as the earth’s slow rotation for my body
to arrive & mashallah to the scars that forest
my legs, leftover from mosquito bites gone
wrong, the rolls that crease my back
when I turn to look at the helicopter dip-dancing
in the distance, the sound louder than my knees’
crackle as I bend to tie my undone laces, as I scrape
the plaque from between my teeth with my jagged
nail, my body, my body, all the ways it sings.
FATIMAH ASGHAR is an artist who spans across different genres and themes. They have been featured in various outlets such as TIME, NPR, Teen Vogue and the Forbes 30 Under 30 List. They are the author of If They Come For Us and When We Were Sisters, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and won the Carol Shield’s Prize. Along with Safia Elhillo they co-edited an anthology for Muslim people who are also women, trans, gender non-conforming, and/ or queer, Halal If You Hear Me. They are the writer and co-creator of the Emmy-nominated Brown Girls, and wrote and directed the short films Got Game and Retrieval. They are also a writer and co-producer on Ms. Marvel on Disney +, and wrote Episode 5, "Time and Again," which was listed as one of the best TV episodes of 2022 in the New York Times and Hollywood Reporter.
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