urdu funk: the gentle art of subtitles

the lover must remove
the veil of her face.
hell will fall if papa hears him.
if the storm of disgrace
enters through the window,
my father’s turban will be disrespected.
don’t develop
an affair with me.
this is the dust of
the storm in your eyes
which can cause havoc.
truth is always dry

Vikas Menon
“urdu funk: the gentle art of subtitles” first appeared in MiPOesias (Winter 2007), and was reprinted in Indivisible: An Anthology of South Asian American Poetry, (University of Arkansas Press, 2010).