Which Way Will the Water Drag Our Bodies? by Tamer Sa’id Mostafa transports the reader to a specific place – the city of Stockton in California’s Central Valley – while also conveying a universal sense of home. Reading these poems, we experience city, family, community, self through a complex lens of justice and love.
“In this collection of poems by Tamer Sa’id Mostafa, pure phenomenology is at work. Which Way Will the Water Drag Our Bodies? is precisely sutured to create a dynamic human map through analysis of perception, and lived tension. The reader and speaker traverse constrictions, junctures, and unhealed coagulations; yet, both emerge into a space of unchartered Self. Motifs of injustice dissect to discovery, the unknown goes to revolution, known escapes into wonder. Mostafa is exceptional in his achievement of phenomenology with experiential ascent of language, skillfully stacked to delight. Empathy serves as the overarching assumption of all that is human. Each poem leaves the internal eye more wide-open.”
– Rhony Bhopla
Tamer Sa’id Mostafa (pronouns: he/him/his) is an always-proud Stockton, California, native whose work has appeared in over twenty journals and magazines such as Confrontation, Literary Orphans, and Zone 3, among others. As an Arab-American Muslim, social worker, and aspiring narrative therapist, he reflects on life through spirituality, an evolving commitment to social justice, and the music of Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.
Price: US$10+S&H
