POETRY: SHENIZ JANMOHAMED

FLOTSAM

bottles plastic bags underwear gum wrappers 
receipts caps toothbrushes lighters cups 
 
end up in the sea’s vast net of light
waves heaving the weight of 
our waste back and forth
back and forth
 
the ocean 
tumbling shards of beer bottles
into oblong pebbles of sea glass
weaving bloated plastic bags 
into nooses for seagulls
breaking bottle caps 
into bait for lantern fish 
 
Our sparkling garbage dump
brims with cockles and crap.
 
our hands throw
trash overboard
 
the giver of life receives. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

"Flotsam" was originally published in Firesmoke, Mawenzi House, 2014

Sheniz Janmohamed (MFA) is a firm believer in fostering community through collaboration, compassion and creativity. In her own practice, she strives to embody words through performance, land art and writing in the ghazal form. A poet, artist educator and land artist.

Sheniz has performed her work in venues across the world, including the Jaipur Literature Festival, Alliance Française de Nairobi and the Aga Khan Museum.  Her land art has been featured at the Aga Khan Park, the Indian Summer Festival and the Art Gallery of Mississauga.
 
Sheniz is also the author of two collections of poetry: Bleeding Light (Mawenzi House, 2010) and Firesmoke (Mawenzi House, 2014).
 
Sheniz visits dozens of schools and organisations each year to teach, perform, and inspire creativity in her students. In 2015, She was awarded the Lois Birkenshaw-Fleming Creative Teaching Scholarship, and holds a Artist Educator Mentor certificate from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto).
 
Sheniz is also the founder of Questions for Ancestors, a blog that encourages BIPOC writers and artists across Turtle Island to ask questions of their ancestors as provide advice for their descendants.
 
Sheniz is currently working on her third collection of ghazals.
 
 
www.shenizjanmohamed.com
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