by Zakia R. Khwaja (Author)
Poetry. South Asian Studies. The meeting of times, a secret basement press, the beauty of Urdu, a broken god, the Buddhas of Bamiyan, a woman's riotous tresses are some of the lush images that weave the rich and complex tapestry of poems in Stones Hold Water. The female speaker rejoices in her Indus Valley heritage even as she repines in poems of heartbreak and religious extremism. These poems traverse a landscape of love and loss, bringing the past to our present, expressing unfathomable grief and abiding self-discovery through lyrical storytelling. We find portals - through the melding of language and lore - to spaces redolent with the sights, sounds, smells of Pakistan. Spaces that inspire fear and courage, connection and contention.