A Pomegranate Story

She's one of the<br />Pomegranates<br />On the tree<br /><br />She falls<br />Cracks open<br />Starts to bleed<br /><br />Now you wash the hands<br />That have ripped its skin<br />They're remaining red<br />You are never clean!<br /><br />Inspired by personal experiences and the stories of others A Pomegranate Story is a poignant collection of poems and artwork about love abuse heartbreak womanhood immigration and ultimately transformation. Through her poetry Hanie Afshar offers a reflective account of her journey as a woman as an immigrant and as someone shaped by life in a so-called Third World country. <br /><br />Serving as the book's central symbol the pomegranate is both deeply powerful and deeply personal for Hanie. Long celebrated in her homeland; as an emblem of femininity fertility and resilience it embodies the many layers of meaning running through her work. This connection reaches back to Hanie's own beginnings: while pregnant with her Hanie's mother was gifted the first pomegranates from the tree that grew in her late grandfather's backyard. In A Pomegranate Story this fruit becomes a vessel for hidden histories and voices often unheard.<br /><br />At its core A Pomegranate Story is a story of renewal. With simple yet emotionally relatable lyricism Hanie beautifully navigates the complexities of identity and cultural displacement empowering readers to discover the resilience required to begin anew.