Through The Glass
Sophia Ali
Window of dreams and ghosts...
Barely seven, I spent
The incandescent hours spying
On sex of hushed curtains,
the mysterious rumblings
Of amber afternoons
Ma, emerging at dusk, musky, radiant,
As crows cast their high combing traceries skyward
Raking in the hot birthings of summer lawns
Cawing like unfed babies until
Tea descended from the heavens
a superbly feminine liquid
Filling any old china; giggling
At the bridled leave-taking of twilight
Until flying petals and fine jewels
disintegrated into extramarital sex
The frocks
of yellowed lace and yelling nannies
Locked up in battered trunks, rusting
in unswept corners of her mind
Taboo legs now snugly wrapped
In chooridar pajamas
Like slowly spinning spider webs
No longer sting when mosquito bitten
The itch vanished, almost forgotten
Her face a fluid jigsaw puzzle
No matter which way she turned
The magic Mona Lisa postcard
She could not get the smile on cue.
---------
About Sophia Ali:
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1964, Sophia Ali has been writing
poetry since the age of six. She was always careful to conceal it
from her conservative family. At the age of 18, she finally shared
her poetry with the artist, feminist and educator Nayyar Jamil, who
encouraged her to express the inner torment caused by life in the
straitjacket of Pakistani society. With an ever worsening family
situation, Ali made the life altering decision of leaving Pakistan
in 1986. She resided in Thailand for two and a half years;
writing, painting, and taking photographs, while supporting herself
as a flight attendant. In 1988 she moved to New York city, where she
had a brief stint as an actress, winning critical acclaim for her
portrayal of a lonely immigrant housewife's slow descent into
madness in Bina Sharif's play, 'The Watchman (Theater For The New
City 1989).' Her publications include Roots and Wings, a book of
poems, paintings and photographs, and 'Waking Moments,' an
assortment of prose-poems and short stories. Ali currently resides
in Berkeley, California.
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