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Faisal Mohyuddin: “The Riddle of Longing”

April 25, 2018 by PBQ Leave a Comment

The Riddle of Longing

When to be an immigrant’s
Son is to be a speaker of several

Broken tongues, each day
Leaves you homesick

For a place you’ve never
Touched, nor forgotten, and feel

The ache to know. When there is
No one left, you ask the wind

For directions. Your own
Voice returns your wish with

A map of your mother’s palms
Spoken into threads of blue

Light. Take the long way
Home, through the cemetery.

There, kiss your father’s name,
Bring back an echo of pain,

And a phlox. When years
Later your son finds it crushed

Within a book, he will feel
Against his face a warm puff

Of breath, yours, then
A wink of green wings behind

His eyes. Strange, that I am
Holding two large rocks, 

Looking for something else
Sacred to smash open.

Filed Under: Contributors 97

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