RAIN
Tonight, the wind is talking
about the thin ice
and heron is plucking
the overcast sky from their shoulders
and I am lying in bed
exhausted from listening to Winter.
Together we will wait
for the small wings
to gather and the brown elbows
of each branch to open to green.
I want all the colors underneath
this comforter with me tonight.
The rain will just wash them away
so I'm okay sleeping in a crowded bed of light.
We will rest; and, tomorrow
I will plant the blues, reds, and yellows
in all of your eyes.
You are the best soil.
Nazbah Tom © 2015
Tonight, the wind is talking
about the thin ice
and heron is plucking
the overcast sky from their shoulders
and I am lying in bed
exhausted from listening to Winter.
Together we will wait
for the small wings
to gather and the brown elbows
of each branch to open to green.
I want all the colors underneath
this comforter with me tonight.
The rain will just wash them away
so I'm okay sleeping in a crowded bed of light.
We will rest; and, tomorrow
I will plant the blues, reds, and yellows
in all of your eyes.
You are the best soil.
Nazbah Tom © 2015
published work
SHORT STORY
"The Hand Trembler", Carving Space: The Indigenous Voices Awards Anthology, Selected by Jordan Abel, Carleigh Baker, & Madeleine Reddon, (Penguin Random House, Canada, 2023)
"The Hand Trembler", Alaska Quarterly Review, (Vol 36 Winter/Spring 2020)
"Nameless", Love After The End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, ed. Joshua Whitehead, (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020) * Lambda Literary Award Winner*
POETRY
“diwozhii”, Tending The Fire, Native Voices and Portraits, Christopher Felver, (Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2017)
"Migrant Seeds", Mixed-Class Anthology Zine, Edited by Vanessa Huang and Savannah, 2016
“Un-Dance”, Online journal archive curated by Kim Shuck, Rabbit and Rose. http://rabbitandrose.com/issue.php?id=4 , 2014
"Undergrowth", Passage & Place: Displacement and Movement, Freedom and Incarceration, Home and Im/Migration at the Intersection of Queerness, An Anthology of Letters, Essays, and Visual Art by both Free-World & Incarcerated Queer Writers/Artists, Compiled by Anna Anti-Palindrome and Lex Non-Script, 2014
"I Stand Before You Today" & "Ma'san'san", Turtle Island to Abya Yala: A Love Anthology of Art and Poetry by Native American and Latina Women, Edited by Mica Valdez, (Malinalli Press, 2009)
SPOKEN WORD
languagenest, CD of poetry, Writer, Editor, Vocals by Nazbah Tom, Sound Producer, Marca Cassity, Cover Art, Shreya Shah
"The Hand Trembler", Carving Space: The Indigenous Voices Awards Anthology, Selected by Jordan Abel, Carleigh Baker, & Madeleine Reddon, (Penguin Random House, Canada, 2023)
"The Hand Trembler", Alaska Quarterly Review, (Vol 36 Winter/Spring 2020)
"Nameless", Love After The End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, ed. Joshua Whitehead, (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2020) * Lambda Literary Award Winner*
POETRY
“diwozhii”, Tending The Fire, Native Voices and Portraits, Christopher Felver, (Univ. of New Mexico Press, 2017)
"Migrant Seeds", Mixed-Class Anthology Zine, Edited by Vanessa Huang and Savannah, 2016
“Un-Dance”, Online journal archive curated by Kim Shuck, Rabbit and Rose. http://rabbitandrose.com/issue.php?id=4 , 2014
"Undergrowth", Passage & Place: Displacement and Movement, Freedom and Incarceration, Home and Im/Migration at the Intersection of Queerness, An Anthology of Letters, Essays, and Visual Art by both Free-World & Incarcerated Queer Writers/Artists, Compiled by Anna Anti-Palindrome and Lex Non-Script, 2014
"I Stand Before You Today" & "Ma'san'san", Turtle Island to Abya Yala: A Love Anthology of Art and Poetry by Native American and Latina Women, Edited by Mica Valdez, (Malinalli Press, 2009)
SPOKEN WORD
languagenest, CD of poetry, Writer, Editor, Vocals by Nazbah Tom, Sound Producer, Marca Cassity, Cover Art, Shreya Shah
