Poem
Shazea Quraishi
RAMADASI
RAMADASI
RAMADASI
Returnto me, beloved
and take me on your lap.
Undo my braid,
stiff
as buffalo horn
and draw your
fingers
through my hair.
Untie my belt, open
the silk cloth
covering my waist,
let my oiled limbs, my
perfumed skin
envelop you
as the rose
swallows
the bee.
© 2010, Shazea Quraishi
From: TEN: An anthology of Black and Asian British poets
Publisher: Bloodaxe, Newcastle, UK
From: TEN: An anthology of Black and Asian British poets
Publisher: Bloodaxe, Newcastle, UK
Shazea Quraishi
(Pakistan, 1964)
Shazea Quraishi is one of a number of younger black and Asian women poets currently gaining ground in UK poetry. In sensual, clear, perfectly measured tones, her poems meet the male gaze with a female voice. Her long poem sequence The Courtesan’s Reply (“a wonderful study of gender and expectation” – Poetry Book Society) is based on the courtesans depicted in Manomohan Ghosh’s translation of Th...
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Poems of Shazea Quraishi
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RAMADASI
Returnto me, beloved
and take me on your lap.
Undo my braid,
stiff
as buffalo horn
and draw your
fingers
through my hair.
Untie my belt, open
the silk cloth
covering my waist,
let my oiled limbs, my
perfumed skin
envelop you
as the rose
swallows
the bee.
From: TEN: An anthology of Black and Asian British poets
RAMADASI
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