This poem is an homage to my mother, who is battling a degenerative disease, Parkinson’s. It weaves my grief of her imminent loss with her displacement and losses as an immigrant. The unforgettable years of living under an Islamic dictatorship and war have left indelible marks on our psyches. Ultimately, as any mortal being, my mother leaves without a suitcase.

Leila Farjami is an Iranian-American poet and psychotherapist. Winner of The Cincinnati Review’s 2024 Award in poetry, a finalist for the Prufer Prize in Poetry by Pleiades, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize, her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Ploughshares, Pleiades, The Penn Review, The Cincinnati Review, and more.

I: @leila_poetry
W: leilafarjami.com