Ali Znaidi- Two Poems

February

 

after Katie Acheson

 

He appeared very pale like a lemon,

when he told me let’s dance together.

I gave him a pair of woolen socks;

told him he couldn’t dance

with bare feet, but he insisted on

dancing together just for some minutes.

So I took the pair of socks back

and we made a bitter lemonade.

 

 

 

Cleo & Petra

 

Two beetles poised on the wall

beetling from one corner to another.

Of the order Coleoptera, they were

biting the wall’s flesh, searching

for that aesthetic appeal of Cleopatra—

a parody of beauty on the wall.

Cleo & Petra were standing for hours

waiting for beauty to gush from

the mural.

 

 

 

Contributor’s Bio:

 

Ali Znaidi (b.1977) lives in Redeyef, Tunisia where he teaches English at Tunisian public secondary schools.  He writes poetry and has an interest in literature, languages, and literary translations. His work has appeared in The Camel Saloon, Otoliths, The Tower Journal, streetcake, The Rusty Nail, Yes,Poetry, Shot Glass Journal, Ink Sweat and Tears, Mad Swirl, Unlikely Stories: Episode IV, Red Fez, Carcinogenic Poetry, Stride Magazine, and other ezines. His debut poetry chapbook Experimental Ruminations was published in September 2012 by Fowlpox Press (Canada). He also writes flash fiction for the Six Sentence Social Network—http://sixsentences.ning.com/profile/AliZnaidi.