Posted in desi, gender, poetry on February 15, 2008 | 17 Comments »
This is a poem that I’ve had hidden away for seven years. It tells the story of my own sister’s divorce in Pakistan, and the response from many on-lookers. There were sympathetic words too, but they were mostly muted - because no one wants to be on a losing side.
________
DIVORCEE
Hi there.
What happened to you?
He broke [...]
Posted in USA, Urdu, children, poetry, political on December 4, 2007 | 10 Comments »
I chanced upon this heartbreaking poem here when looking for children’s literature in Urdu. The barefoot child is hurrying along, her small wrist grasped firmly by a uniformed (probably American) soldier’s hand. She is holding a bundle high–she is small, so she is trying to hold it up so it doesn’t touch the ground.
Mama, look!
Get [...]
Posted in gender, poetry, religion on November 1, 2007 | 10 Comments »
I wrote this poem in July 2006 (obviously I was still nursing the baby). Here it is as a re-run.
I am the one
who suffers The Worst Pain of Your Life
to bring new life.
I am
the one whose nipples are sucked to
painful tenderness,
the one whose body–
ravaged by labour,
episiotomies,
hemorrhoids, stretch marks — yet
whose body is on display and [...]
Posted in Pakistan, Punjabi, poetry, political on October 1, 2007 | 8 Comments »
A relative in Pakistan sent me this Punjabi poem (please drop me a line if you know who the poet is), called “Uncle, keep the uniform on” - addressed to no other than Pervez Musharraf.
It was hard translating a very colloquial poem into English, but I’ve made a sleepy halfhearted attempt here. Any [...]
