Tamer Said Mostafa | Juanita's Grandson | Glass: A Journal of Poetry

Tamer Said Mostafa (he/him/his) is a therapist, poet, and storyteller from Stockton, California. His work has appeared in literary journals and magazines such as Guernica, Prairie Schooner, and Freezeray among others. Tamer is a Best of the Net and Pushcart nominee, and a graduate of the Creative Writing program at University of California, Davis.

Tamer Said Mostafa's Website

Also by Tamer Said Mostafa: Where Will I Find America? In-N-Out for Iftar Tahani's Grandson

Previously in Glass: A Journal of Poetry: I Haven’t Been Keeping up on Pluto Much These Days

May 14, 2025

Tamer Said Mostafa

Juanita's Grandson

Christmas Eve, 1998. You narrate Jesus’s nativity from the Gospel of Luke. Your offspring, all but a few bearing biblical names, circumscribe the room for a seat close to the tree. A miniature manger scene illuminates the center table. Bethlehem reimagined at our fingertips. Such is life you say that salvation is only for those who believe sanctimoniously, like a shepherd’s crook. I take my cue and play Silent Night on the piano, reading sheet music with an older grandchild’s name scribbled in the corner. The burgeoning baritone of my voice deviates virgin, mother and child into conflict with each other. You sit next to me on the bench, ratify note after note until the sapphire of my eyes reflects onto the mahogany, and your chords recoil to God. Everything holy ends in absolution- I think, whether we are all or none of it. You venerate the white noise behind us, and I vow, louder than any dogma, never to celebrate again.