Neha Maqsood – you see that?

Neha Maqsood

you see that?

that is where Pakistan held me.

beyond the ridge, where the twin minarets materialize.

on inclement days,

allah calls upon me five times, but I hear him twice—

thrice on a less blue day.

stretches, where I’m veiled from conviction until the hourly rinsing of bodies.

at night, Karachi lingers in crimson apples, chai kiosks, and dry fruits,

festooned amid the ruins.

this dwelling is a break in the water.

Neha Maqsood is a Pakistani writer whose coverage on race-relations, global feminism, and South Asian culture has been published internationally in Teen Vogue, Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, and Business Insider.  Her poetry, too, has been featured in the Kenyon Review, Ambit Magazine, and the Aleph Review. You can find her at nehamaqsood.com