Editors’ Note: The following poem by Nada Al Mosa is part of the notebook I Want Sky, a collection of essays, poems, fiction, and hybrid work honoring Sarah Hegazy’s one irreplaceable life, and the lives of all LGBTQ+ Arabs and people of the SWANA region and its diaspora, and, too often, the risk inherent in their visibility. Edited by Mariam Bazeed and published as a part of a partnership with Mizna, the notebook will also be available as a print issue, released this summer. Continue reading work published in this series here.

a note about the poem:

This poem is composed of fragmented segments of Sarah Hegazi’s essay, “A Year since the ‘Rainbow’ Incident: A System Detains, Islamists Applaud,” published in Arabic on the online platform, Mada Masr. Published in 2018, her writing recounts her experiences in Egyptian prison, her torture, and what ensued. My poem arises from a desire to highlight Hegazi’s voice, her experience, and the incredible loss that the Arab LGBTQIA+ community has experienced.