Tosh Sherkat | Issue 31

Nail Clippers

(for Bisan)

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedBisan from the north of Gaza gives you updates in each video you watch her nails grow longer, lipsswell with lack of water.you want to send her a letterbecause they say no humanitarianaid is getting through. you wantto send her a letter with nailpolish and clippers, but no mailmanis driving through the open wound as it bleedscries from babies under the bombs.this shape of lightthis uncertainty of alarm,its olive, rising rhymeas you forget about the stoveon the phone with Bisan,whose suffering is now homeless.you watch every day. she is still there.you want to fly there. you’ll fly toJordan, to Cairo, to Beirut, toEilat, Tabuk, Tel Avivand storm the border with food and water andyour letter and morphine for those who are going to dieand deserve that at least gently.there is no good image for this.but somewhere in the distance the world is burningyou just can’t see it.if you don’t know what I mean,you just can’t see it.you won’t make it to the border,or on the plane, there could be a weapon in the metalof the nail clippers or death gasin the little bottle with the polish label.how close we are.

Thank you for reading Send My Love to Anyone. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Share

Tosh Sherkat (they/them) is a Persian-Doukhobor settler-of-colour born on Sinixt territory, in Nelson, BC. They are a MFA student studying poetry at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan) on Syilx territory. Their writing appears at carte blanche, Terrain.org, Existere, and EVENT,  among others, and is forthcoming at Acta Victoriana.

Support Send My Love to Anyone

This newsletter is free, but you can support it by signing up for a monthly or yearly subscription, liking this post, or sharing it!

Share

Big heartfelt thanks to all of the subscribers and contributors who make this project possible!

Connect

Twitter | Bluesky | Instagram | Archive | Contributors | Subscribe