My English Teacher Tells Me

Choose your vocabulary

with great precision

I prune stubborn shoots

reaching out from buried roots

Try to dream

in the language

you wish to speak

I hang lanterns of words

in the trees of this expansive night

Your writing describes

but does not tell what happens

I launch an excavation for events

trapped in the strata of Arabic

unweaving carpets of words

Begin with what happened first

then work forward.

I reach across the edge of yesterday

for dream

and patient, ripening,

its tender petals.

Cite specific examples

to support your case.

In the skin of forbid

shines the crescent of sacred

a month of wars deferred.

On the pages of memorize

the ink reveals protection

a guardian ready to recite.

Try to include

only

the most relevant details.

The hollows of write

are lined with bookshelves.