Bridges Across the Jehlum A narrow passage Down the hall And I find you seated On a boat That has never been moored. Your fingers move Carelessly across your face Tracing alphabets of a race That swore by the chinars in Kashmir And died by guns of the occupying army. … Read more →
Zoon by Salik Basharat
I sprint down the stairwell and rush through the backdoor to hear the laments of a hundred faithful; while of a hundred thousand more I do not hear, but feel – like an ache in my bones. this veiled support and this willed support has opposed – And so have … Read more →
Verse-journal of the Kashmir Siege
Ather Zia August When I asked if there would be a war, they replied “did it ever end?” and continued their song. 8/4/19, the siege begins next day * our hearts are sinking, but our prayers are rising, Azadi, Azadi, Azadi 4th day of the Kashmir siege, 8/8/19 * … Read more →
I am a Soul by Dr Muhammad Qasim
My origin, presence in body. My departure is mystery I know no bearers, accept no restrictions, I am free I take a journey whenever and wherever I wish to I am beyond time, space and your imagination I am the Soul I am not made for Power, wealth and fame, … Read more →
Two poems by Huzaifa Pandit
I am no Yusuf, Father I am no Yusuf, Father My brothers aren’t content to push me down the well. They tear me – tender limb to tender limb with their sleeved hands sharp as the crescent and fling my torn body down the well. I have lain in this … Read more →
Two poems by Mudasir Firdosi
Half Widow My eyes, vacant, gaze into the deep space wondering how did you become a brute? I ask about my beloved, caged in far off places or buried in no man’s land. Does my pain make you conquerer of the realms? Or numb like my heart? The blots on … Read more →
Kashmir for India – A poem by Tapaswinee Mitra
Here we present our case- Kashmir for India: Kashmiris are so beautiful, like foreigners. Like brand ambassadors of a Fair and Lovely ad. Fair like Shashi Kapoor and lovely like Shammi. The only 2 Kashmiris we know, other than Pandit Nehru. Kashmir is the perfect honeymoon destination; Come and experience … Read more →
Two poems by Shabir Ahmed Mir
GHAZAL Eyes of porcelain. Dreams of stone. Pieces of porcelain. Screams of stone. These impotent idols, this adamant priest, This tyranny of faith, these regimes of stone. A mouthful of dust; a handful of bones: What castles of ambition! What schemes of stone! The thirsty artificer sculpting … Read more →
Two poems by Aakriti Kuntal
An event in the neighbourhood I adopt a movement like air Wading along the mind’s eye through the obvious, the oblivious, the steam of all perspiring things The moon stares at nothing— cold eye of the sky, the quality of a stone in its eternal passiveness Someone died in the … Read more →
Two prose poems by Sambuddha Ghosh
November Light (I) The magpies of my forgetting are such that perched on the chiselled granite steps of my own mausoleum, they tell themselves stories of rivers and streets of unfrivolous peace. The wine was silent they knew, made out of a dank, perhaps inconsequential cellar of grapes left fermenting … Read more →
Two poems by Ra Sh
1. The Valley of the Blind- A crow chronicle. a pellet is a precious pearl. soft as a grain of rice. kisses the eye like a lover. caresses the pupil like your mom. crows are vile birds, traitors, who predict the arrival of armed guests in riot gear and armoured … Read more →
Kasheer by Mrinalini Harchandrai
You are that mansion allowed to evanesce still the innocence of light seeps through your chandeliered heart nature’s cashmere façade creeps on your silken carpets the Himalayas landscape your upper storeys, they sweep and staircase around you grandly like bannisters your roses sit embroidered with ballroom grandeur ghostly sweetness against … Read more →
Response Poetry
We called poets to write us “Response Poems” We asked them to recall any favorite poem that spoke to them or inspired them or was a companion to them when no one else is. Then we asked if they ever have written a response to it in the form of … Read more →
Ten poems by Anita Bharti
RUKHSANA’S RESIDENCE BY ANITA BHARTI Translator: Nupur Jain RUKHSANA’S RESIDENCE – 1 Thoughts about you can never cease Rukhsana, from the depth of your eyes arises the question with a new lease of life – A silent tear rolling down your sudden shudder from pain by a memory that turns … Read more →
Green is the Colour of Memory, Poetry Collection
A new book on poetry titled, “Green is the Colour of Memory” by Huzaifa Pandit is out. Kashmir Lit is happy to share an excerpt from the foreword by Nabina Das. She mentions: “This poet is from the mountains, valleys, springs, and rivers that have seen prolonged dark nights and not the dazzle … Read more →
Two Poems by Insha Muzaffar
(1) In the mirror the hangman looks so like my silence that I wish I was born as a million tongued word meaning freedom there are no flowers like that of moon (eclipsing over old mountains) no resurrection other than its absurd cycles but then the way some people longingly … Read more →
Eid ul Fitr in Kashmir by Aaliya Mushtaq
The sacrificial Eid is yet months away Yet Ishmael is dangled on the cross The angels keep their censored silences and pour them into our hearts. It isn’t even Muharram But sisters wrap mourning over their torn cloaks, and wipe off sweat from the cold bullets settled in the brows … Read more →
A Bloody Night in Pampore by Muhammad Tahir
Don’t tell me Papa Kishtwari looked ferocious, And his eyes had all the fire of terror; That his hairs were dyed dark ginger And he walked with intimidating airs. Tell me about that January night in 1996, Which was the Night of Salvation, When his armed pack of savage men, … Read more →
A man I know by Shivapriya Ganapathy
A man I know (from film screenings and art fests in the city) came up to me and asked What I think of the #Me too movement. What can anyone think of it, really? Later, someone else asked about the Aziz Ansari incident. All I can tell you is I … Read more →
Pashmina, Tombstones have names & Witness by Sayen Aich
There have been evenings When my grandmother would weave stories, from the pashmina threads of memory. That still kept her going. With such delicate threads one had to be careful. A little lie here, a little too much effort And a castle of stories would crumble down. She would … Read more →
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