Moniza Alvi
Three Poems
from
Fairoz : A book-length sequence of poems in which a schoolgirl Fairoz has been
drawn to extremism and has become involved with Tahir, a man she has met online
1.
The eye
O hardware
shop.
O faithful
eye –
has it seen
anything unusual?
The hardware
shop is dark
and so
closely forested.
How can the
recording eye see?
But it does.
It’s well-trained.
The forester
is quick and deliberate.
The hammers
are ranged like
strong-beaked
birds
on the
bristling wall-rack.
A claw
hammer, that’s it.
And a club
hammer.
Drops them
into the open cage
of his
basket. Adds long nails.
Hurries to
the wooden counter.
Something
not right? He’s too
intent, no
glancing around.
Someone
wants to hammer a nail
through the
universe.
Does the eye
weep?
The eye is
dispassionate.
2.
She’s heard nothing
from Tahir
‘Speak
Soon’. That’s what he said.
‘Speak soon
love you Fairoz.’
And now
she
cuts herself on the ice of
waiting
cuts herself on the ice of not
knowing
cuts herself on the ice
3.
Call him
three times
Tahir? said
the woman in the wood.
Who’s Tahir?
Oh you mean Abdul.
He’s really
Abdul. Sometimes
Anwar. Names
are a risk.
I don’t
think you’ll see him,
not for a
while. Maybe
not in this
life.
He was
always careful,
so skilled
at
covering his
tracks.
But it’s
hard
to hide in
these woods.
Don’t
despair. Inshallah,
no one needs
be lonely here.
Friendship,
marriage –
just
footsteps away.
But try
calling him now.
Three times,
once for each name.
Abdul –
Anwar – Tahir.
He’ll
answer, if he hasn’t moved on.
Moniza Alvi was born in Lahore and grew up in
Hertfordshire. Three of her collections The Country at My Shoulder, Europa and
At the Time of Partition, have been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize.
Moniza
received a Cholmondeley Award in 2002.
Now
Available on Amazon India, USA, UK & Canada
Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0BSKRGP4F?ref=myi_title_dp
Amazon
USA: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSKRGP4F?ref=myi_title_dp
Amazon
Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BSKRGP4F?ref=myi_title_dp
Amazon
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BSKRGP4F?ref=myi_title_dp
No comments:
Post a Comment