"This Nose" by Raziya Wang

This Nose
inspired by Lucille Clifton

This nose rises up,
Mount Kilimanjaro in a room.
This nose is bold
when these eyes might hide.
This nose has never
graced the cover
of a fashion magazine.
You might say this nose
shows I’m a foreigner,
but this nose smells
that lie across the room.
This nose stakes
my place. This nose
will not bend.
This nose can own
a crowd’s gaze and
root a bully to the ground.

Raziya wang

Raziya Wang is an Indian-American woman and part of the third generation of her family to be born in East Africa. She completed her undergraduate degree in English at Princeton University and then pursued her medical degree and training as a psychiatrist. She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area, where she practices psychiatry, writes, and lives with her husband, two daughters, and an orange cat. This is her debut poetry publication.

Headshot: Charles Wang

Photo Credit: Staff