Leila Chatti

May 30, 2024 | poetryfoundation.org | Leila Chatti

Only temporary peril—another Thursday. Blood remains primarily inside my body. The scream of the animal is for attention. Abruptly my shadow reminds me I am human, in the room, though the darkness I make on the walls could be mistaken for storm. The coulisses of trees endure, despite my failures to see them as more than symbol. The gray seems personal. The news, sempiternal. I am of and in an uncertain age. A coolness descends. The future.

May 18, 2024 | poetryfoundation.org | Leila Chatti

adjective: body part: color: dog breed: emotion: f-word: greek gods’ punishment: heavy object: injury: judgment day sign: kids’ game: language you don’t speak: man who has caused you suffering: noun (plural): obscenity: phobia: question with no answer: religious figure: superhero: town you grew up in: unfounded belief: weather phenomenon: existential fear: year: zoo animal: A little maddening, to be in the world, to be someone _________________(adjective) in the world. Broken, bad, says an...

Apr 25, 2024 | swwimmiami.substack.com | Mary Morris |Leila Chatti

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedStray cats in the attic,the high bridgewe jumped frominto the river of frogsand water moccasin. We no longer askif she imaginesour childhood home—no longer probeabout a life spent together. Our mother nursed usseventeen months apart. We shared a room,camped in Mexico,launched a boat to Sardinia. Witnessed the birthsof each of our children. I am not sure whenwe first noticed her memorymigrating away.

Apr 22, 2024 | thecommononline.org | Leila Chatti

Issue 27, Issue 27 Poetry, Poetry By LEILA CHATTI Around me, the stubborn trees. HereI was sad and not sad, I looked upat a caravan of clouds. Will you everspeak to me again, beyond my nightly resurrections? My desiredisplaces, is displaced. The sununrolls black shadows which halve me. I standvery still so as not to startlethe song in the branches. It’s true: I am learning to believe there are beautiful things never meant for me.

Mar 7, 2023 | citylights.com | Leila Chatti

Paperback Price: $17.00 Deluge quantity Overview “To write a series of poems out of extreme illness is a bracing accomplishment indeed.