Black Gold of the Sun

By Leila Lois

Em ji agir hatin û em ê vegerin agir

We came from fire, and we will return to fire

~Kurdish proverb

Strong does not always appear so;

even gold alloys with the dark,

tarnishes with time,

like myrrh resin leaking from scorched bark.

From fire I came; daughter of the sun.

To fire I will return;

garlanded with cinnamon, cedar, cardamom.

Leila Lois is a dancer and writer of Kurdish and Celtic heritage who has lived most of her life in

Aotearoa. In her poems, Leila explores a personal sense of origin that, like the ocean, binds

several landscapes and times, coming back to the idea that a timeless, boundless love pervades.

Her publishing history includes Southerly Journal, Djed Press, NoD Literary Journal, Mayhem

Journal, Lite Lit One, Bent Street Journal and Delving into Dance.