The afterlife of a caress: A poem by Saeed ur Rehman
I killed her hand by touching it.
She hastily buried it
in her clothes
I offered some prayers
for its deliverance
from the world of the sinful,
hoping for its resurrection.
Her hand stayed stubbornly godless.
There was no afterlife.
Saeed Ur Rehman has a PhD in postcolonial theory and teaches South Asian literature and creative writing at the Lahore School of Economics. His work has appeared in New Literatures Review, Kunapipi, Cultural Dynamics, and Mississippi Review.
