Open Child's Pose
WRITTEN BY AYSHE-MIRA YASHIN
never did I show you the lemons and figs
blooming on the branches of the trees that were planted in the corners of my Nicosia Garden, that were watered by my dead grandmother, or slice them for us
into two segments each
never did I leave you with forehead kisses
and with lavender buds underneath your pillow and with almond milk and honey on your nightstand and (crouching by my dead grandmother’s bed) sing to you noumi noumi ni
and never did I trace the Lefke meadows
or the Athalassa willow trees, with my hands across your back up until you fell asleep, just before I left
so I’ll see you when I’m stoned and in
my dead grandmother’s bed
you placed the needle there mid-stitch
just before you left
you gave me a terracotta pot
and seeds for me to sow
but when you’re not here
they never grow
I’ll see you when I’m dreaming
on my dead grandmother’s bed
our three pink candles melted out
just before you left
I extended my legs out to you
open child’s pose
I never left,
they never closed
Ayshe-Mira Yashin is a lesbian artist and poetess from Istanbul, Turkey, and Nicosia, Cyprus, currently based in Cambridge, England, and planning on studying art in London in the autumn. Her poetry explores her intersectional and hybrid identity as a Middle-Eastern lesbian of Jewish and Muslim heritage (and a practitioner of eclectic pagan witchcraft). Her written work is riddled with metaphors connoting pagan herbal correspondences, and is largely intertwined with her visual art practice, where she makes feminist sapphic illustrations and herbal collages. She is currently working on her first self-published illustrated poetry collection, which will be sold on her shop (www.ayshemira.com/the-illustration-witch-shop) where she also sells handmade bookmarks, necklaces, stickers, zines, art prints, handmade notebooks, and her Sapphic Enchantress tarot deck. Follow her on Instagram @illustrationwitch to stay in tune with her art and poetry!