Tuesday Poem

Roheena

—to a girl from Kyber Pass

suppose in the imagination of the tribes
she was kept hidden all her life
behind four walls
still it was possible …

suppose in the imagination of the tribes
if only to claim her name
they had waged wars
still it was possible …

suppose in the imagination of the tribes
all the text praising their own imagination
if all that sacred text were burnt
still it was possible …

yes this imagination
that wraps a girl in layers of shame
has survived for centuries on the pillars
of shameless, false bravery.

but when she finally arrives in Peshawar
having broken the siege of the imagination of the elders
it seems an ancient beauty
has reached her destination of eternal dawn.