PALESTINE IS A FUTURISM: THE DREAM

Poetry

Size / / /

By: Fargo Tbakhi

Issue: 29 March 2021

Content warning:

THE DREAM PULLS MY MEMORY FROM A WELL
I AM SERVED MEMORY FOR BREAKFAST!

INSIDE THE DREAM I SHALL HAVE TO UNLEARN
THE BITTERNESS OF THE WARHUNGRY CAPITALIST LIFE
THE EMPTY MEANINGS OF THE LOBBYING FIRM!
THE LANGUAGE THAT TURNS ME CRUEL AND USEFUL!

IN THE DREAM I AM REQUIRED ONLY BY MY LOVERS
NEVER THE EXTRACTIVE DRILLS OF THE OILEATERS!
I HAVE BEEN UNMADE BY THE DREAM OF GOD
I HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM MEANING!

THE SUN BURNS NEW MEANING ONTO MY SKIN!
I AM CRISP WITH NEWNESS
THE DREAM VOMITS UP THE SLUDGE OF ABANDONMENT
SWIMMING IN THE SLUDGE IS A MCKINSEY CONSULTANT!
SWIMMING IN THE SLUDGE IS ARTHUR BALFOUR!
THEY DROWN

I AM THE LOVE OF THE DREAM EMBODIED!
I WILLINGLY DISSOLVE MY BITTER ATTACHMENTS!
THE DREAM IS A FUTURISM OF THE SPIRIT!
THE SPIRIT IS AN ORALITY!
THE SLUDGE IS A STATE DEPARTMENT!
MY MEMORY RETURNS ME TO THE GREAT EARTHDREAM!
PALESTINE IS A DREAM OF THE FUTURE!
FUTURE IS A PALESTINE OF THE DREAMING!

About Fargo Tbakhi

Fargo Tbakhi is a queer Palestinian-American performance artist. A Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, his writing can be found in The Shallow Ends, Mizna, Peach Mag, Strange Horizons, Apex Mag, and elsewhere. Find more at fargotbakhi.com.

Current Issue

29 May 2023

Azimuth, Editorials, Non-Fiction

Editorial: A Letter To The Jiānghú

By: Joyce Chng
By: Yilin Wang
By: Mia Tsai

We are touched and encouraged to see an overwhelming response from writers from the Sino diaspora as well as BIPOC creators in various parts of the world. And such diverse and daring takes of wuxia and xianxia, from contemporary to the far reaches of space!

Fiction

The Ocean Remembers the Wave

By: L Chan

The air was redolent with machine oil; rich and unctuous, and synthesised alcohol, sharper than a knife on the tongue.

Fiction

One for Sorrow, Two for Mirth

By: Tina S. Zhu

“Leaping Crane don’t want me to tell you this,” Poppy continued, “but I’m the most dangerous thing in the West. We’ll get you to your brother safe before you know it.”

Fiction

The God of Minor Troubles

By: Megan Chee

Many eons ago, when the first dawn broke over the newborn mortal world, the children of the Heavenly Realm assembled at the Golden Sky Palace.

Poetry

Cradling Fish

By: Laura Ma

Winter storm: lightning flashes old ghosts on my blade.

Poetry

To a Dear Immortal in a Foreign Land

By: Tania Chen

transplanted from your temple and missing the persimmons in bloom

Poetry

a poet of the diaspora reflects upon the codes of jiānghú

By: Judy I. Lin

immigrant daughters dodge sharp barbs thrown in ambush 十面埋伏 from all directions

Articles, Non-Fiction

Jin Yong’s Protagonist that Wasn’t: Dongfang Bubai

By: Johnny Liu

Many trans and marginalised people in our world can do the exact same things that everyone else has done to overcome challenges and find happiness, only for others to come in and do what they want as Ren Woxing did, and probably, when asked why, they would simply say Xiang Wentian: to ask the heavens. And perhaps we the readers, who are told this story from Linghu Chong’s point of view, should do more to question the actions of people before blindly following along to cause harm.

Articles, Non-Fiction

Reimagining the Syonan Jiānghú: Reflections on Wuxia in Da Xia, a TTRPG set in the Japanese Occupation of Singapore

By: Tan Shao Han

Before the Occupation, righteousness might have meant taking overt stands against the distant invaders of their ancestral homelands through donating money, labour, or expertise to Chinese wartime efforts. Yet during the Occupation, such behaviour would get one killed or suspected of treason; one might find it better to remain discreet and fade into the background, or leave for safer shores. Could one uphold justice and righteousness quietly, subtly, and effectively within such a world of harshness and deprivation?

Reviews

Monday: A “Joyous, Toothy Escapist Adventure”: A Review of The Water Outlaws By S.L. Huang

By: Tan Shao Han

Read Issue

Like this: