My Mother’s Handwriting

Saba Khaliq, Pakistan

The most beautiful thing in the world
Is my mother's handwriting
How she sways her yaay
And lifts her laam
Pens repel her
Tiny brittle plastic cylinders
Odourless tasteless
She craves for her gachi
Rolled on slates, rolled on tongues
Her qalm quenches the kham of her letters
My mother and I have the same hands
Big plump mittens for hands
Yet her seen and sheen
Are galaxies apart
From my s and sh
In school I was her darling pupil
(Or so I think, mama)
I'm twenty two now
Far far old to learn what I forgot
Because I I I I mama
Haven't seen the most beautiful thing in the world
For years upon years
Gliding into my notebook.

Saba Khaliq is an English literature major in Pakistan and enjoys strolls in alleys and markets, leading to poetic inspiration. She's currently working as a content writer.