From a Dream
by Ayshe-Mira Yashin
you emerged into my life from a dream
a dream of Autumn forests
of Nicosia Autumn forests to which
I know that one day I’ll return
I lived the entire dream
in the moment of awakening
and waking up felt like a State Change
like the browning of Autumn leaves
your hair it smells like Autumn
your body is reeking of Autumn
I’m trying to find the chestnuts and cloves
hidden in the hairs of other girls
Ayshe-Mira Yashin (she/her) is a lesbian artist and poetess from Istanbul, Turkey, and Nicosia, Cyprus, currently based in Cambridge, England, and planning on studying art in London in the autumn. Her poetry explores her intersectional and hybrid identity as a Middle-Eastern lesbian of Jewish and Muslim heritage (and a practitioner of eclectic pagan witchcraft). Her written work is riddled with metaphors connoting pagan herbal correspondences, and is largely intertwined with her visual art practice, where she makes feminist sapphic illustrations and herbal collages. She is currently working on her first self-published illustrated poetry collection, which will be sold on her shop where she also sells handmade bookmarks, necklaces, stickers, zines, art prints, handmade notebooks, and her Sapphic Enchantress tarot deck. Follow her on Instagram @illustrationwitch to stay in tune with her art and poetry!