“Fata Morgana”
Glenn Shaheen
Artist Statement: When hiring Nobuhiko Obayashi to direct the 1977 horror film House, the production company, Toho, told Obayashi they were tired of losing money on narratively comprehensive films and wanted instead to lose money on something incomprehensible. It's one of the best movies you'll ever see.
The white southerners
so woke online
doing penance for some
horrible shit they said
in their youths to fit in or
not get punched but
we all landed on
the third rail at least
a few times not that
any of us want to get into
forgiveness’s comfy
seats and snuggle real
broken human beings
the bones the bones
are honed and sharp
Glenn Shaheen, the author of four books, was born and raised in Nova Scotia. He is the Executive Director of the Radius of Arab American Writers and teaches at Prairie View A&M University in Texas.
All handles are @glennshaheen