Storms women carry: a review of WHEN YOUR SKY RUNS INTO MINE, by Rooja Mohassessy
Jeanne Yu When Your Sky Runs Into Mine, by Rooja Mohassessy, Elixir Press, 2023. In this ambitious debut, winner of the 22nd Annual Elixir Poetry Award, Rooja Mohassessy graciously brings us into the fold of her life as an Iranian American born in Iran. Her poetry is an ekphrastic dialogue with the artwork of her uncle, Bahman Mohassess (1931-2010), and pays homage to his vital role in her emigration to Europe during the Iran-Iraq war. Mohassessy’s poems delve into the disconnectedness that an immigrant faces when drastic culture change and coming-of-age collide. Her writing honors the women in her home country, and strives towards a reconciliation of war’s impact on their lives and families. Mohassessy’s creative poetics beckon and then immerse you into her well-crafted visually rich language. Mohassessy begins by retrieving childhood memories evoked by her uncle’s cubist and surrealism-inspired art (roojamohassessy. com/gallery). For her, these abstract figures embody the conflict of living in the political uncertainty of their native land. In “Hijab in Third Grade,” she gently invites us into her changing world. Two stray ends of the night droop aimlessly at her chest. The lady gathers and ties them into a double knot, a lock