THROUGH THE GLASS
Sophia Ali

Window of dreams and ghosts... 
Barely seven, I spent 
The incandescent hours spying 
On sex of hushed curtains, 
the mysterious rumblings 
Of amber afternoons 
Ma, emerging at dusk, musky, radiant, 
As crows cast their high combing traceries skyward 
Raking in the hot birthings of summer lawns 
Cawing like unfed babies until 
Tea descended from the heavens 
a superbly feminine liquid 
Filling any old china; giggling 
At the bridled leave-taking of twilight 
Until flying petals and fine jewels 
disintegrated into extramarital sex 
The frocks 
of yellowed lace and yelling nannies 
Locked up in battered trunks, rusting 
in unswept corners of her mind 
Taboo legs now snugly wrapped 
In chooridar pajamas 
Like slowly spinning spider webs 
No longer sting when mosquito bitten 
The itch vanished, almost forgotten 
Her face a fluid jigsaw puzzle 
No matter which way she turned 
The magic Mona Lisa postcard 
She could not get the smile on cue. 
--------- 
 
 
 

 

About Sophia Ali:
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1964, Sophia Ali has been writing poetry since the age of six. She was always careful to conceal it from her conservative
family. At the age of 18, she finally shared her poetry with the artist,
feminist and educator Nayyar Jamil, who encouraged her to express the inner torment caused by life in the straitjacket of Pakistani society. With an ever worsening family situation,  Ali made the life altering decision of
leaving Pakistan in 1986. She resided in Thailand for two and a half years;
writing, painting, and taking photographs, while supporting herself as a flight attendant. In 1988 she moved to New York city, where she had a brief stint as an actress, winning critical acclaim for her portrayal of a lonely immigrant housewife’s slow descent into madness in Bina Sharif’s play, 'The Watchman (Theater For The New City 1989).' Her publications include Roots and Wings, a book of poems, paintings and photographs, and 'Waking Moments,' an assortment of prose-poems and short stories. Ali currently resides in Berkeley, California.