Fighting Words: Peace and All Good

Anthony Vahni Capildeo

for mina gorji


Heard through a cedar tree before,

her words through other boughs,

cypresses now.


Everything is planned

and a surprise.


Imagine a bequest

promoting tenderness.


Branch becomes violin bow,

what was harsh becoming flexible,

drawing on tension.


Mina, through cypresses.

Blue princess lines.

Dress of breath

of cedars.


She dreams a fellow for each fellow.

To each, a fanged Chihuahua.


Our need for tenderness

and their need

for tending

according

and their sharpness,

magnificence,

smallness.


Dream of a companion language

lapping paneled and lapelled

institutions, their Brittany-spanieling tongues.


This poem is part of a series. Click here to read “Fighting Words: Tea Fever,” here to read “Fighting Words: Arrivals,” and here to read “Fighting Words: Broken Heating.”

Anthony Vahni Capildeo is a Trinidadian Scottish writer of poetry and nonfiction. They are a writer in residence and professor at the University of York.
Originally published:
September 8, 2025

Featured

Searching for Seamus Heaney

What I found when I resolved to read him
Elisa Gonzalez

What Happened When I Began to Speak Welsh

By learning my family's language, I hoped to join their conversation.
Dan Fox

When Does a Divorce Begin?

Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.
Anahid Nersessian

You Might Also Like

Fighting Words: Tea Fever

Anthony Vahni Capildeo


Fighting Words: Arrivals

Anthony Vahni Capildeo

Support Our Writers

A sustaining subscription provides vital, ongoing support for The Yale Review and the writers we publish—and includes new holiday merch.
Become a Sustaining Subscriber