Somewhere where I am not (Extension)

How my mind takes me to different places and eras
and washes me in several cultures
around different people
people, all with opinions
and 
I'm always the woman
I want to be
I am here
and
I'm somewhere where I'm not.

An extension of somewhere where I'm not, By Madiha Shams Khan

Secret love affairs upon rooftops

On moonlit nights
I walk barefoot
on the raw floor of my rooftop
dust particles stick to my feet
and the sound of my pazaib 
rhymes with my throbbing heart
on my moist skin
your soft touches
the knots of my blouse
tied too tight
your fingers race
to loosen them
and you breathe 
your desires on my neck
in your hurried breaths
you say my name
like a holy prayer
and I ask you
if this worship
will forever
remain a secret.

- Secret love affairs on rooftops By Madiha Shams Khan

Daastaan-e-Pheran Zubaan-e-Qalam

Artwork by Madiha Shams Khan                              

Therapeutic aroma of my childhood memories 

chiseling the wood to make my reed 

Alif Laila stories my grandfather would read 

calligraphy curves on mashaq 

letters dipped in scents of longing 

crafting  envelopes, binding books 

assembling rose petals to make gulqand 

walking through the valleys in long homely pherans 

now

i weave my pheran with the threads of nostalgia 

And script the stories of my past with calligraphy

know

nothing is ever lost in time 

for those who live in nostalgia 

they can bring back hope 

they can bring back a destroyed city 

they can bring back the extinct art 

they can bring back a lost culture 

but

can you see

can you see

Written after listening to the narration of a very dear friend's personal experiences in context to his childhood memories in Kashmir.  

mashaq - a wooden tablet 

gulqand - a sweet preserve of rose petals

Alif Laila - tales from Arabian nights

Daastaan-e-pheran Zubaan-e-qalam By Madiha Shams Khan