Gothic, horror suspense set on a “God-Forgotten” island off SCOTLAND
‘In Search of Baghdad’ by Karen Quevillon – second prize winner in the 2021 TripFiction ‘Voyages by Verse’ Poetry Competition
25th July 2021
‘In Search of Baghdad’ by Karen Quevillon – second prize winner in the 2021 TripFiction ‘Voyages by Verse’ Poetry Competition
Karen Quevillon is an award-winning Ontario-based author of poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. Her recently published début novel, The Parasol Flower, is set in British Malaya and her work has appeared in literary journals across North America such as Geist Magazine, Grain, The Fieldstone Review, In/Words, FreeFall, Cargo Literary, Philosophy Now. Karen earned a PhD in Philosophy from Northwestern University, and two Master of Arts degrees (University of Toronto, York University).
In Search of Baghdad was inspired by and (in part) created from the article written by Nabil Salih, “Baghdad: a solitary walk through a crime scene”, March 14, 2021, Aljazeera.
In Search of Baghdad
Once-elegant Abu Nawas Street is rubbish being burned
stray dogs
solitary men
who gulp beer
from plastic bags
who raised children
obliterated
by American liberation
who gulp
endless politicians’ endless
pledges and threats
The ornate Cinema al-Zawra plays no movies
you can see
instead
by the few working
street lamps
the spot where
security forces
swarmed and killed
another countryman
on the block
outside the renowned
masgouf restaurants
serving traditional grilled carp
demolished
by the municipality
Nearby is al-Rashid Street where armed men
assassinate unarmed youth
–902 civilians in 2020–
for demanding
a safe homeland
they received
live bullets
stun grenades
tear gas canisters
that lodged in bone
they received
amputations for
peaceful protest
At the statues of Shahryar
and Sheherazade the schoolchildren stand
in mismatched
flip-flops
selling soda
trading on
incalculable
hunger
See how McKenzie bookshop sells shoes now
because nobody
reads books
they walk out
in new shoes
looking for phantom jobs
they come home
in coffins
become portraits
on walls
encircling
their mothers’
endless pain
Follow Karen on Twitter or via her website
Click on the titles below to read the other two prizewinning poems
Tripoli Dreaming by Rebecca Stonehill
On Cefalù Beach by Tom Benjamin
Join Team TripFiction on Social Media:
Twitter (@TripFiction), Facebook (@TripFiction.Literarywanderlust), YouTube (TripFiction #Literarywanderlust), Instagram (@TripFiction) and Pinterest (@TripFiction)
Please wait...
