ANTENNA

WE HAD NO DANISH CHANNELS

WE HAD AL JAZEERA

WE HAD AL ARABIYA

WE HAD NO PLANS

BECAUSE ALLAH HAD PLANS FOR US

DAD TOOK ME TO THE MOSQUE DURING THE HOLY MONTH

EVERY EVENING AFTER DINNER WE PRAYED

WE PRAYED UNTIL WE COULD NO LONGER STAND

WE PRAYED AND WE PRAYED AND I GOT A COKE AND A KIT KAT

HE BECAME SOMEONE ELSE IN THE MOSQUE

GOD-FEARING AND LOVING

I SAT BETWEEN HIS LEGS

LEANED UP AGAINST HIS CHEST

WHILE THE IMAM PREACHED

THAT’S WHEN HE MIGHT KISS ME

WHILE DRIVING I FELL OUT OF THE CAR

I THOUGHT HE WAS PARKING

AND I OPENED THE DOOR WHILE HE WAS DOING A U-TURN

Translated from the Danish

Notes:

Read the Danish-language original, “PARABOL,” and the translator ’s note by Jordan Barger.

Source: Poetry (March 2023)