The Marbled Sigh

On Trains

I pick skyscrapers from my nails
and ask the woman beside me
how she has braided home into her hair

Loosely.

43 years of curls pulled back tightly,
braided firm,
gave her nothing but breakage and a receding hairline to plant from

Roots are not forced-
even soil is combed loose
to let seeds grow

I shed cities from my skin
and the woman beside me
tills belonging between her knuckles,
slowly-
the way my guava trees are yet to harvest-
the way neither of us have arrived yet.

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Lobna El Gammal is an Egyptian-Canadian poet who dabbles in literature and
things creative at the intersection of Art & Science. She is an engineer committed to energy technology “by day” – as they say- and a poet “by night”, though these can often reverse. Lobna’s poetry is inspired by: art, science, nature, the diaspora experience, the Islamic faith, Arabic culture, and sometimes things more random like croissants and insects.