SHADMAND, Roya Zahra
Forest of Red

A collection of poems by Roya Zahra Shadmand.

I sit by the theater,
flay a pomegranate with my hands.
The juice, as it runs,
thin crimson, like
menstrual blood
after having a coil fit (mirena, not copper -
that would be more like molasses)
reminds me of my mother/uncle/second cousin.
I do not have an image of home, as such,
only a feeling of warmth when I eat rich foods.

Roya Zahra Shadmand is a poet and performance artist from the UK, based in the EU since 2016. She has studied clowning under Philippe Gaulier and is a former resident artist at The Roundhouse in Camden. She has performed at various events and festivals around the UK and Europe, including but not limited to Latitude Festival, Bestival and the Edinburgh Fringe. Her work is concerned with structural inequalities, generational patterns of power and protection, alternative forms of education and organising community, the history of opiate use in the middle east, the healing arts, and practices of harm reduction as they pertain to drugs and drug users.

Published by Kitchen 3 Editions, 2023
Chapbooks / Poetry