Project Description
Elmi Ali
Elmi Ali is a writer, performer/facilitator based in the North West. He writes poetry, short -fiction and drama. Ali has performed across the country including Westminster, The Southbank Centre & Contact Manchester. His work has been published in publications such as the Poetry Review and Scarf Magazine of which he is an Associate Editor.
He facilitates Performance Poetry and Creative Writing workshops: both individually and in partnership with organisations such as Numbi Arts, Arvon Foundation, Young Identity and Wordsmith.
A study in memory
I ran out of the city,
my lovers name
a thorn in my mouth, gaging on the truth,
Wardhiigley smouldering behind me –
the fat settling
in the cul-de-sac where I left our house.
I became a contortionist,
folding my body
into self-pity,
turned religion into a bunker,
squatted
in the interviewer’s office
holding on to God
like a key.
I pulled my tongue out
stretched it over
a new language, learnt
to bend over a toilet bowl,
took pills
for the heart burn, became British
without
memorising my lovers face.