How I Discovered a Planet on My Grandmother's Forehead

by Amirah Al Wassif

My grandmother whispers in my ear, “When will you smile?”
I raise my hand to the sky, trying to lift this purple mountain resting on my shoulder, but to no avail. Grandmother begins to braid my hair, stained with henna, and she sings one of the songs from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights. I cough forcefully into my hand, for the mountain I carry is about to kill me.
Grandmother continues to sing with her sweet voice while she stirs the pot of boiling milk on the stove with her prosthetic hand. The color of the milk looks similar to the color of the ripples of the mountain I carry. I resent my grandmother because she sings.
I dream of falling asleep on her chest to plant more sunflower trees around her sagging nipples. Grandmother eats cheese and lettuce while continuing to stir the boiling milk with her metal hand. I see seven stars falling into the sea of her olive-green eyes.
I continue to gaze at her face as if I were painting her. Here I see a rabbit jumping out of her nostril, trying to tease me. It is mocking me. I shift the mountain slightly off my shoulder so I can breathe.
I am coughing again while my grandmother continues to sing. I discover a new planet on her wrinkled forehead. The inhabitants of the planet are waving at me. I forget about the mountain I carry on my shoulder and melt away.

Amirah Al Wassif is an award-winning published poet. Her poetry collection, For Those Who Don’t Know Chocolate, was published in February 2019 by Poetic Justice Books & Arts. Her illustrated children’s book, The Cocoa Boy and Other Stories was published in February 2020. Her poetry book, How to bury a curious girl, was published by Bedazzled Ink Publishing Company in 2022.

Her poems have appeared in several print and online publications, including South Florida Poetry, Birmingham Arts Journal, Hawaii Review, The Meniscus, Chiron Review, The Hunger, Writers Resist, Right Now, Reckoning, New Welsh, Event Magazine, and many others.

Her latest book, The Rules of Blind Obedience, was released in December 2024.