Response Poem 4: Rubina


Response to A Butcher by Agha Shahid Ali

Meat Cute
In the lane near Ghalib’s Haveli
Romance fills the December air
Chandni Chowk lights up our eyes.

We share a cycle rickshaw ride
Bumping heads and rubbing shoulders
All road blocks slowly clearing up.

The silence that says a million words
As we walk by Jama Masjid to Karim's
The sheer joy of sharing a sheermal.

Moinuddin’s spicy kebab with onions
You They are too hot too handle
But what a delicious Meat-cute.

The night sweeter with Mian ji’s kheer
With Ghalib’s only living relative
Translating moments into couplets.

As Tinder bursts into flames
We become ashes immersed
In the moonlight of Chandni Chowk.

(for Abhinav)

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