Ali Murat Gali
I lean into my destruction;
this olive tree
is a monster
from a time that would not begin.
I had prayed to serve, to service you,
a rusting silver platter of names I heard given to me;
I sought to charm, to appease you,
an excuse for my interruption.
a pirate ship arrived here before me,
I called pickled carrots, my mother,
I awaited for you to recognize me
in how the desert preserves, in this kiss of immortality.
wind picks up the feathers of my dress,
while for the uncurious eyes I provide a calvin klein catalogue
Fabian claims another interruption;
suave descent, alcohol in air, he asks for my name,
then again,
and once more,
as if he is not convinced by Ali
– a practice I seek to discern.
he demands to get me a beer,
he pulls his card – I have money!
I decline but promise to wait for him
for this corner just begins a story.
I watch the tourists enervated in their occupation
of taming a breaking that weigh down the steps,
multicolor Oaxaca pushed down their throats
choking in the puss of stilled representation.
Fabian returns and snatches the pen,
I am an artist he explains then scribbles my face
he decides against finishing it, but I am satisfied;
his fingers reach for an answer, I call it a night.
RISK SANCTITY!
avoid tales passed from your mother to mine,
what is bordered could not be sacred,
so fetishize this scene & come along.
if you so choose, watch how my shoulders will seduce,
this bench is my beach, your gaze is my sun;
I eat the snake off the mezcal bottle and get terrible,
my pursed lips, a mirror, for your kindest destruction.
Ali Murat Gali is a queer writer & cultural organizer from Antakya, Turkey. Their practice interrogates the sensuous currents that overflow as we get lost to create new worlds. Ali pays particular attention to entangled dynamics and rupturing meanings of home, memory, and identity. They have a law degree, yet rather than practicing, Ali is curious to trace how revolutionary communities create and embody their own laws. They reside in Waawiyaatanong, also known as Detroit.