Zaffar Kunial

Meaning “homeland” —mulk (in Kashmir) — exactly how my son demands milk. • Full-rhyme with Jhelum, the river nearest his home — my father’s “realm.” • You can’t put a leaf between written and oral; that first A, or alif. • Letters. West to east Mum’s hand would write; Dad’s script goes east to west. Received. • Invader, to some — neither here, nor there, with me — our rhododendron. • Where migrating geese pause to sleep — somewhere, halfway is this pillow’s crease. • Now we separate for the first time, on our walk, at the kissing gate. • Old English “Deor” — an exile’s lament, the past’s dark, half-opened door. • Yes, I know.Empty. But there’s just something between the p and the t. • At home in Grasmere — thin mountain paths have me back, a boy in Kashmir.