it’s the blue doors of Husam’s Toyota Corolla that get you to heaven
Dujie Tahat
—at least I think so.
I didn’t pay
that good of attention
in Quran study
or Mosque school
or whatever
those lessons
were called
or wherever
dad’s from with
that funny accent.
It’s all the same
to me—curry or kibeh,
tacos or turmeric.
All the same
like houses lined
up neatly in a row
like men at salat,
like you & the closest
person next to you.
I don’t know—
I am willful in my ignorance
I am willful in my willfulness
in my ignorance & my dad—
wherever he is, inshallah—just broke
a nervous sweat. My God,
how did Allah even make it
into here? Why did it take
so long? Listen, I know
subhanallah is shibboleth—
never had to convince me none.
Even my Turkish Lyft driver knew
I was one of his from the jump
& was quick to bid my father
his best.
Dujie Tahat is a Filipino-Jordanian-American writer from Washington state. His poems have been published or are forthcoming in Arcturus Magazine, Cascadia Rising Review, Across the Margin, Sakura Review, Crab Creek Review, Flypaper Magazine, and The American Journal of Poetry. He serve as a contributing poetry editor for Pacific Northwest literary magazine Moss and recently earned fellowships from the Hugo House and Jack Straw Writing Program. Dujie has been a Seattle Poetry Slam Finalist, a collegiate grand slam champion, and Seattle Youth Speaks Grand Slam Champion, representing Seattle at HBO's Brave New Voices. Find him on twitter @dujietahat.