by Mikki Aronoff
The Twin Dreams of Khwaja Mustasim
In one dream, I tape a pentagon over the controls, shudder out the shahada,
and tilt the nose down.
In the other, it’s a circle, and the same prayer; and I angle us into the sun.
In one dream, I am giving the Friday sermon, fist pounding palm, al-
Amriqiyya, al-Amriqiyya.
In the other, I walk out on myself, but the sandals outside the mosque of
anger stretch to the horizon, and mine are somewhere among them.
In one dream, I am on a street in Amman, kicking a flag that writhes in
copper-green fire.
In the other, I illuminate Qur’ans in cochineal, quicklime, indigo.
In one dream, I anguish.
In the other I incandesce.
In one dream, I am digging a tunnel into Gaza, soupcans in the backpack
you thought contained a bomb.
In the other, I am trading couplets, one line Hebrew, one line Arabic, with
Samuel Ha-Nagid.
I who taught the Oneness of God am cursed to dream dreams twice.
Rage and love anode and cathode, my neural static takes leaps of faith.
I am electrical poetential: I dream I am lightning, I dream I can soar.
I wake up and I find myself a lightning bug in a Leyden jar.
All my dreams are born with a nightmare attached Siamese at the umbilical.
Congratulations, says history. You’re the father of twins.
Amit Majmudar is a poet, novelist, essayist, and translator. He works as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist in Westerville, Ohio, where he lives with his wife and three children. Recent books include Twin A: A Memoir (Slant Books, 2023), The Great Game: Essays on Poetics (Acre Books, 2024), and the hybrid work Three Metamorphoses (Orison Books, 2025). More information at www.amitmajmudar.com. On x and bluesky at @AmitMajmudar.
Mikki Aronoff advocates for animals and scribbles and scrawls away in New Mexico. Her poetry and prose have been nominated for Pushcart, Best of the Net, Best Small Fictions, Best American Short Stories, and Best Microfiction, with stories appearing in Best Microfiction 2024 and Best Small Fictions 2024.