{"id":749,"date":"2010-07-19T13:52:43","date_gmt":"2010-07-19T13:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ink.verticalplus.co.uk\/archive\/?p=749"},"modified":"2010-07-19T13:52:43","modified_gmt":"2010-07-19T13:52:43","slug":"an-extract-from-a-new-poem-by-moniza-alvi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/an-extract-from-a-new-poem-by-moniza-alvi\/","title":{"rendered":"An extract from a new poem by Moniza Alvi"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><meta name=\"Title\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Keywords\" content=\"\"><br \/>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"ProgId\" content=\"Word.Document\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Generator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\"><br \/>\n<meta name=\"Originator\" content=\"Microsoft Word 2008\">\n<link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/localhost\/Users\/helenivory\/Library\/Caches\/TemporaryItems\/msoclip\/0clip_filelist.xml\">\n<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n  <o:AllowPNG\/>\n <\/o:OfficeDocumentSettings>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n <w:WordDocument>\n  <w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n  <w:TrackMoves>false<\/w:TrackMoves>\n  <w:TrackFormatting\/>\n  <w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n  <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>\n  <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt<\/w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>\n  <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0<\/w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>\n  <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n  <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n  <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n  <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n  <w:Compatibility>\n   <w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n   <w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n   <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables\/>\n   <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx\/>\n  <\/w:Compatibility>\n <\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 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Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin-top:0cm;\n\tmso-para-margin-right:0cm;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;\n\tmso-para-margin-left:0cm;\n\tline-height:115%;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:12.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;\n\tmso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;\n\tmso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;\n\tmso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;\n\tmso-bidi-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><br \/>\n<!--StartFragment--><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\"><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 11pt;\" lang=\"EN-US\"><font size=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">3.&nbsp; Better By Far&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">&nbsp; <\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">By bus?<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Better by far a magic carpet<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">finely knotted, richer<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">than blood, broad enough<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">to keep the family together,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">islanded, apart<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">from every danger,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">journeying swiftly<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">across the unsegmented sky \u2013<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">not in the cauldron of summer,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">but in the fresher feel<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">of the last of winter,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">the lucid mornings,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">the greeny tinge<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">of the evening air,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Nehru to wave them on<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">and Jinnah to welcome them \u2013<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">my grandmother, her pots and pans,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">her lamp close by,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">her parcels of layered clothes,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">like mattresses,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Ahmed and Athar jostling for space,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Rahila, Jamila, Shehana,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">the \u2018little\u2019 sisters,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">a conspiracy of three,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">with names, like mine<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">all ending in \u2018a\u2019, young girls,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">cross-legged, daydreaming,<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">disentangling hello from goodbye.<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br \/><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Author\u2019s Note: This is an extract from a poem-in-progress \u2018At the Time of Partition\u2019 inspired by the story of Athar, my father\u2019s younger brother. He suffered brain damage as a result of a childhood accident. Some years later he was one of the hundreds of thousands who disappeared at the time of the partition of India, never to be found again. My grandmother and her family made the crossing from India to the new country \u2018Pakistan\u2019 by bus\u2026<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br \/><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><a style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bloodaxebooks.com\/personpage.asp?author=Moniza+Alvi\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">* Moniza Alvi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"> was born in Pakistan and grew up in Hertfordshire. Her poetry collections include <\/span><span style=\"font-style: italic; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">The Country at My Shoulder <\/span><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">(OUP, 1993) and <\/span><span style=\"font-style: italic; font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">Europa<\/span><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"> (Bloodaxe Books, 2008). In 2002 she received a Cholmondeley Award from the Society of Authors. Moniza now lives in Norfolk.<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">&nbsp;<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><span style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\">&nbsp;<\/span><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><br style=\"font-family: Courier New,Courier,mono;\"><\/font><br \/><\/span><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>3.&nbsp; Better By Far&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; By bus?Better by far a magic carpetfinely knotted, richerthan blood, broad enoughto keep the family together,islanded, apartfrom every danger,journeying swiftlyacross the unsegmented sky \u2013not in the cauldron of summer,but in the fresher feelof the last of winter,the lucid mornings,the greeny tingeof the evening air,Nehru to wave them onand Jinnah to welcome [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prose-poetry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/749\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inksweatandtears.co.uk\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}