“Kitna Maza” by Maleeha Farooq
Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Kitna Maza” by Maleeha Farooq.
Kitna Maza
By Maleeha Farooq
Isnโt it nice? To speak, out loud, names you havenโt spoken in years.
Something my Nani said to me two weeks agoโ
so simple I couldnโt get it out of my head.
Offhand, between stories of my momโs childhood
and her momโs recipe for alloo chawal.
(I tried translating what she said in Urdu
and thereโs none of the weightlessness
or any of the music.
Itโll have to do.)
To taste the hours shared with people you knew a lifetime ago.
To pronounce familiar names, old names, nearly forgotten names.
But then, if theyโre still alive, theyโre not old ones, are they?
Maybe youโre just not good at keeping in touch.
Something sinks its teeth into your middle.
A quick flash, something like a memory.
Their names fit snugly in your mouth,
sweet sliced fruit, sitting easily on your tongue,
a swan song filling a dusty room inside of you.
Copyright ยฉ Maleeha Farooq
Previously published in Sky Island Journal, Issue 31, 2025.
Maleeha Farooq is a Canadian-Pakistani writer from Toronto. Her poems have appeared in Queenโs Quarterly, Contemporary Verse 2, and Sky Island Journal. You can find her on Instagram @maleehaslibrary.
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