Belief Systems by Saba Keramati
Poetry
Belief Systems
by Saba Keramati
“For ten months I didn’t buy anything that I knew would end up in a landfill. I have never made it through a month of Ramadan.”
Belief Systems
by Saba Keramati
In the summers, my grandmother would fast to be closer to God. These days, my online shopping list grows, more packages arrive at the door. Some nail polish. A necklace with my birthstone in the center, in case I forget what month I was born. A pumice stone, so that I may once again have soft feet, feet that haven’t hardened, innocent feet. For ten months I didn’t buy anything that I knew would end up in a landfill. I have never made it through a month of Ramadan. I have never tried very hard. I hope God is still there, still close, knowing I am trying to be happy. As if that is simple. As if it is holy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Saba Keramati is a Chinese-Iranian writer from the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds degrees in English and Creative Writing from University of Michigan and UC Davis. Her work appears or is forthcoming in AGNI, Michigan Quarterly Review, Passages North, and elsewhere. Find her on Twitter @sabzi_k. More at sabakeramati.com.
FEATURED ART: At Nature's Mirror by Ralph Albert Blakelock, courtesy of Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans
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