home

Leena Shahab, Pakistan

the sun blurs beneath wispy petals
tips of lacquer dissolving beneath dirt-crusted toes

i hear the sound of raindrops
rippling, breathing
ancestors clawing in my blood
they cannot see, yet they taste
the monsoon dust on my tongue

crows bathe in droplets of summer
swollen bodies lapping at the crevices between feet
beaks tearing pearl and bronze flesh
in war, everything tastes the same

i watch the rain brush away bullet casings and
forgotten toys into cesspools
the rain bubbles forth from my lips
prayers nestled like opals within
soft honeyed fingers

there is a story of a boy who loses his horse in battle
carving a sitar from its bones
immortalising his love in a melody running deeper than the
essence of life itself

i see the boy now, jumping into water
thrumming a tune through his sitar
and i watch the rain dance down his cheeks
forming, shaping
the land i call home.

Leena is a Pakistani writer studying at Karachi Grammar School, Sindh. She usually writes prose, publishing her first book at the age of nine and having her work featured in Bowseat's Ocean Awareness program in Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, but she can also occasionally be found penning down poetry, reading, or practicing Mandarin in her spare time.