Fatima Alaiwat
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SALT BETWEEN US
The place I was is not here
Phantom dirt, foreign gravity
There is water between us

Dismembered elements
scattered in waves
ancient womb calls
to sorrow and surrender
Cooking hands in place

they are our hands too
mingled in gestures
flowing through veins like roots
There is salt between us

Mist in the air
Salty skin
Constant
rhythms in transit
Flowing within us

An old Arabic proverb directly translates to ‘there is bread and salt  between us’. Sometimes referenced with ‘there’s salt between us’ or ‘there’s bread between us’. It refers to an old tale of a deep bond and kinship between two people who have shared in bread and salt.