In 2017, I won the INK & PAINT poetry and art competition in Kuwait organized by the Kuwait Poet’s Society and Artspace. My poem, Epithet, was paired with artwork by artist Nadine Qauddoumi.
I wrote the poem in late 2016, early 2017 in response to the hate, misogyny and racism (especially against Muslims) from the Trump campaign and later Administration.
This was my response to that time (remember them calling Hillary a nasty woman?) Having lived for so many years in Kuwait, I felt nothing but anger and shame at seeing fellow Americans spew such vitriol against the Middle East and Muslims. I also continue to be shocked and ashamed at the degrees of misogyny and racism against women and people of color.
I completely forget about the poem and winning the contest until I ran into someone recently who I’d met at the exhibition’s opening night. She remembered me and my poem and even quoted some lines from it.
So now that Trump has lost and is finally out of the White House, I am celebrating by sharing this poem again. You have been defeated. And we have triumphed.
Epithet
By Jamie Etheridge
You peel the labels from the roll,
glue smelling of
rat poison and sweaty socks
traps beneath your fingernails
then with Sharpie poised
(the cap caught between your teeth)
you brand my life
with your sticky hate
Dirty Arab
(modern standard invective)
Nasty Woman
(you know you like it)
With casual lies
you jot down,
categorize
his brown skin
mixed with mine
what will you call them
mulatto? hybrid? TCN?
You think
such petty demarcations
can divide and conquer
that your malignant borders
marginalize
But you can’t comprehend
how we revel
in the messy contours
of our existence
SunniShia
(zwara cousins)
Hadaribedu
(here and there)
Remember
Sykes and his buddy Picot?
those MasonDixon mapmakers
of the Middle East?
we have not forgotten
Their tea and scone divvying up
idly slicing
our future to shreds
Wafed Watani
(proud to be)
American’t
(heartbroken & ashamed)
One day
we will defeat your salty malice
until then
we stand at the
frontier of humanity
listening to a staccato drum beat
the rat-a-tat-tat
(machine gun logic)
of a Bedouin epithet
and in the background
the lament of
drowning refugees
and adhesive stickers
being torn from a roll.
Wow! Your story and poem really express’s your feelings. Also…. YAY! Trumps out! Biden’s in! Awesome story , really good.
-Sabel