Poetry by Noon Abdelrazig
It was thirty minutes to midnight.
Harvest moon heavy in the quietening sky,
blood orange whispers in the trees,
sealed by the humming rhythm of the glass,
the bus engine playing jazz.
You sat there facing me,
sad-eyed, globed shoulders,
wrists encircled with rosy cuts,
blooming wild.
O, traveller,
no stranger than I,
lost in the garden of Eden.
I wonder, what path led you here?
Two nighthawks, silent flyers,
resting on a high voltage line,
threading through a shred of truth.
Your cuts are beautiful.
Your bravery marks.
How did you earn them?
A tribal initiation, I wonder.
Or, are you Odysseus?
King of Ithaca, returning home?
I too, have scars.
I made peace with mine,
over a loaf of bread and wine.
Now, I wear them on my forehead,
Like rays of a sunny crown.
Here I am.
A gift from a foreign land.
With my book of truth,
My torch of hope, right hand high.
Welcoming you to the new world,
Welcoming you home.
Will you look up now, or fall away,
wing-bound into the ocean night?
Bio
Hi I am Noon Abdelrazig.
Born and raised in Khartoum Sudan, I came to Aberdeen 5 years ago to pursue a medical career. I write poetry to express myself away from home.
My writing covers both the political and the personal, but is always from the heart: my way of
navigating through challenging landscapes. The ongoing struggle for political freedom, peace, and
social justice in Sudan; ethnicity and racism; the role and rights of women; FGM and sexual abuse;
mental health; and the joy and fears of new parenthood. I see art as an essential part of living- a means of personal healing and growth, but also of social
activism.
I love empowering young girls, especially now that I am a mother of a girl. I come from a big tribe of women, who were always supportive of each other. I hope to make the sisterhood proud!
Featured Image: Nighthawk. Eric Fan via FineArtAmerica