Checklist
by Sagirah Shahid
Christa David, waiting on change to come, still, 2020, hand cut paper collage, 8 x 10 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
Checklist
Sagirah Shahid / OCT 2020 / ISSUE 2
What have you eaten today?
the good days on my breath
When was the last time you were held?
see how the sun kisses my collarbone through the curtains
What does death have to do with any of this?
if this is love i am afraid love will see me the dishes are dirty there’s a sourness in the air
Why do you keep staring at that wall?
love told me wild grapes taste sweeter in autumn because they know frost is coming
the vines send everything they have to the fruit
When was the last time you showered?
the city drained a section of the mississippi last week they paused a dam and suddenly
there are lime green scooters dotted beneath the underbellies of each bridge
shadowing this sandy river
Why don’t you just get out of bed?
for a little while my dreams buzzed around a web of weaknesses
i woke and my subconscious followed with vibrating venom
i don’t want you tangled in all of that
When was the last time you’ve slept?
100 years ago a school teacher built america’s largest wildflower garden
on that side of the river near that road i have lived here my whole life
i never knew that garden was there
Sagirah Shahid is an African American Muslim poet and arts educator from Minneapolis, MN. She is a recipient of a mentor series award in poetry from the Loft Literary Center, a Minnesota Center for Book Arts mentorship award, and Twin Cities Media Alliance’s Our Space is Spoken For, a collaborative public art and performance fellowship for Black, Indigenous and artists of color. In 2019 she was a writer-in-residence for Wisdom Ways, Unrestricted Interest, and 826 MSP. Sagirah’s poetry and prose are published in Mizna, Winter Tangerine, The Drinking Gourd, Puerto Del Sol, the American Muslim Futures virtual exhibit, and A Moment of Silence an online anthology of 50+ Black Minnesotan voices during a historical moment of transformation. Sagirah’s debut collection of poetry “Surveillance of Joy” is forthcoming from Half Mystic Press in 2021.
Christa David is a visual artist, writer and researcher. Inspired by the artistic works of Romare Bearden, Wangechi Mutu, Alma Woodsey Thomas and literary works of James Baldwin, Christa fuses the mediums of painting, collage and assemblage to create and recreate stories about home, belonging, faith, and identity. Christa hold a BA and MPH (Master of Public Health) from Columbia University. Her work is in private and public collections throughout the United States including the David C. Driskell Center, and has been recently on view at Longwood Gallery at Hostos College in Bronx, NY and PRIZM Art Fair at Art Basel in Miami. Her work was recently featured in Elle. Christa currently lives and works between New York City and Atlanta.