FemkuMag, 2019

sobs into the abyss

(dedicated to Kashmiri women)


late twilight…
mom’s forehead sweat
glints in the firelight


palm tree shadow
the outstretched hand
of a female beggar


crimson horizon
a gaunt girl shrinks
into the pashmina shawl


tattered pheran
flapping on the washing line
evening rhapsody


invisible spectrum
her face smudged
with kajal and soot


neap tides
the first snow settles
on her grave


chinar leaves
desolating
her last cry


crocus buds
the echoes of her children
out of snow


blood moon
his shadowwolf stalking
her blues


street barricade
the tumbleweed
of her entangled hair 

Femku mag, Sept 2019

------------------------

nostalgia

I am sitting on a park bench that is a bit old and rusty now. I come here daily for the last seven months and find this place calm and soothing. The morning breeze plays with my rough and tangled hair, tickles my breath, and unfolds glimpses from the past. I close my eyes and imagine a time when we used to sit here for hours to think about our future, the future that reshaped our relationship, and reconnected us more deeply. Yes, I cherish all those memories that changed my life for good, and I cherish it as my glorified past. 

morning solitude 

the dappled light 

on my back

---------------

baby’s breath the un(not)iced truth 

snow in sumMEr The cOnfessiOns  

metro train tracks outstretching her last cry 

FemkuMag,August 2019, issue 15

---------------

domestic violence 

the arc
of his fist
thunderbolt

cactus blossom
the way she paints
her love story

midnight rants
the heartbeat sound
after that

wiping
the spots off the glass
his last dinner

in between
the clink of dirty dishes
her self-talk

rare family dinner
the taste of red chili
burns the silence

home alone
mopping his footprints
he left behind

broken vase
the life I spent
piece by piece

window cracks
the jigsaw puzzle
of her marital life

FemkuMag, issue 14 (Femku Featured)

------------------------------


mammogram images overshadowing my self-identity


deep inside my purple bruises echoing rain


cold rain
taps on the window
after his departure
she feels a sharp pain
in her empty womb


the shards
of a dollhouse window
after war
she collects the remains
of her childhood


deep wrinkles
on her forehead
reshaping
the purple scars
of her hardship


FemkuMag, issue 13 (special edition)

------------------------------


child bride —
she insists on wearing
the daisy tiara


raven’s shadow all I have to surrender


preliminary diagnosis
the flying crows tattoo
on her back


FemkuMag, issue 12

------------------------------


homeless child counting pink dots the pellet gun

moonless night...
deepens the darkness
a mother’s lullaby


chinar leaves her untold story in the empty street


FemkuMag, issue 11

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withered peony
her love story
after menopause

women’s day —
nothing has changed
except her Facebook status


women’s day light glints on every mirror

first crush the smile behind her silver braces

lunar eclipse the deep scars of self mutilation

FemkuMag, Issue 10 (Women's day special)

------------------------------


birthmark —
the black mole becomes
my identity


FemkuMag, Issue 8