Maryam: David Barsamian and Rafiq Kathwari share family histories in an exchange of letters

Dear Rafiq, I just received your new book of poems, “My Mother’s Scribe,” and was delighted to learn your mother’s name is Maryam. My maternal grandmother was named Maryam. My mother (Araxie, ten-years old) last saw her and her 3 younger brothers in Urfa on the Death March in 1915. They were in bad shape.…

Poem

Mother Writes to the ‘Lion of Kashmir,’ Long Deceased February 2020 Dear Sheikh Sahib, They tell me, you are buried on the left bank of Naseem lake with views of Hazratbal shrine, your tomb guarded by India’s troops. I tell them, this represents one of those paradoxes’ history keeps throwing up: the same people who…