Acknowledgments
The Café Review would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Agha Shahid Ali’s brother, Agha Iqbal Ali, and sister, Hena Ahmad, as well as the Agha Shahid Ali Literary Trust, in putting together this special issue.
“Farewell,” “A History of Paisley,” “Stationery,” “Tonight,” “The Wolf ’s Postscript to Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Zainab’s Lament in Damascus” [a segment of the narrative poem “From Amherst to Kashmir”] are reprinted from The Veiled Suite: The Collected Poems by Agha Shahid Ali. Copyright © 2009 by The Agha Shahid Ali Literary Trust. Used with permission of the publisher, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
“Ghazal for Open Hands” first appeared in Martín Espada’s Alabanza: New and Selected Poems 1982 –2003 (W. W. Norton & Co., 2004).
“Tea Cosy from Kashmir” first appeared in Peggy O’Brien’s Frog Spotting (Ireland’s Dedalus Press, 2009).
“In a Foreign Country” by Yehudit Ben – Zvi Heller first appeared in Metamorphoses: A Journal of Literary Translation (vol. 8, issue 2; Fall 2000).
Interview
Agha Shahid Ali Interview
Agha Shahid Ali: The Lost Interview Conducted by Stacey Chase This interview with the late Kashmiri – American poet Agha Shahid Ali,
Poems
Ghazal for Open Hands
by Martín Espada in memory of Agha Shahid Ali December 10, 2001 Northampton, Massachusetts The imam stands above your
The Wavering ghazal for great – grandmother Ruth
by Caroline Adams A pair so slender conjoins; twin hands, at ends reach the fragile skin of hands. Innocence not nearly as pure as the calm,
All the Ways You Know to Love Us ghazal for asa
by Andrea L. Watson We are blaze you find such dangerous beauty — One thousand jewels confined as dangerous beauty. Veil us in
Patience
by Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller translated by Agha Shahid Ali with the poet My grandmother always served tea hot in cups of thin glass, thin with
Listen to the Falling of the Snow
by Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller translated by Agha Shahid Ali with the poet Listen The fall of the snow like sand rustled to a hiss in the wind it
A Raindrop Observed
by Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller translated by Agha Shahid Ali with the poet How a raindrop fallen from the roof becomes light all by itself though
In a Foreign Country for Maayan and Adi
by Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller translated by Agha Shahid Ali with the poet Dawn after dawn my mother — a fanatic to Let the air in Let the air in
Little Red Riding Hood’s Reply to the Wolf
by Victoria Zak for my friend — in enchantment — Shahid Only you and I know what really happened that day, my wolf. I wasn’t a child. I
Skating With Jupiter for Agha Shahid Ali
by Douglas “Woody” Woodsum Something there is that loves mitten – piercing cold in the quiet heart of midwinter. The sun sinks. Early
When Paper Weeps
by Lorri Centineo You wrote, “The world is full of paper.” And purple ink. O Kasmiri, Did Shakespeare pull your magic to midsummer nights? Fae
Little Elegy
by Susie Meserve I think of you like ball – peen hammers, tapping a hall of mirrors. Like the foghorn on a clear day. (Is death abrupt,
Thus in the Limit 3
by Jon Wilkins Just like you, she came here overflowing with a need to feel superior, an age – old rage holds her heart — gentle but
Thus in the Limit 2
by Jon Wilkins Just like you, she came here with a bag full of chalk and yellow tape. Her fear of snakes sneaks up on her now and again, coiling
Thus in the Limit
by Jon Wilkins Just like you, she came here for the fountains of youth and chocolate. She found them occupado. Occupational hazards and other
Three Horses
by Christopher Merrill I am the mare night forgot — blessed Brooding, brilliant. Remembered. I am the colt women corral, leaving Paradise,
Three Nonsense Poems for Hannah and Abigail
by Christopher Merrill How much mush is too much mush If you love mush too much? How much slush is too much slush If you love slush and such?
Three Questions
by Christopher Merrill And if there is no change in our condition? Seven hang – gliders set their sights on a lodge Boarded up since the
Three Seasons of Fighting
by Hugh Coyle i Last night, between skirmishes, we crept away from our lakeside camp and carved lines of love on the ice with knives and the tips
Shahid
by Tony Hoagland How could you, Shahid, have been so cruel, as to show us what self–love looked like? Was it a kind of punishment? It was
from “The Tinajera Notebook”
Forrest Gander * * * So the present hoses itself out. And with it — Sitting in the lobby of the clinic, its walls painted like
Collected Works
by Peter Marcus The world scoured by mop, broom and rain. Landscapes fallow as the moon, as my mother fretful without her wig between the
Farewell Beloved
by Michelle Demers They ask me to tell them what Shahid means: Listen, listen: It means “The Beloved” in Persian, “witness” in Arabic.
Dear Shahid
by Michelle Demers In Vermont, where the year has four, distinct seasons, you brought your exotic flavors to the mountain, and taught us all how
Tea Cosy from Kashmir i.m. Agha Shahid Ali
by Peggy O’Brien January. It’s been a year. You must be almost cosy Under your cold comforter. That’s, of course, just silly Poetry. Your body
The Half-Inch Giant for Agha Shahid Ali
by D. K. McCutchen Not a poet, me. Never was, But he listened kindly Heard the tight throat Dedicating words To a beloved Person, Newly lost. He
What Was Once an Ocean for Agha Shahid Ali
by Jim Davis I wander through honey mustard hills, weave through marching brambles, groaning as your literary army stretches its roots,
Writ in Water for Agha Shahid Ali
by Dean Kostos When Keats coaxed his mind into a page of whiteness, he unrolled a scroll of seeing, required for witness. Latin spirare weaves
Of Ghazals
by Eric Torgersen Call me Ishmael tonight. — Agha Shahid Ali Can you hear it somewhere, Shahid, this groundswell of ghazals? You,
Had We Met, I Imagine We’d Have Talked
by Zilka Joseph till sun up, you who knew my language would have understood my homeless heart and how home lives in many
On Steep Himalayan Roads
by Zilka Joseph I read the warning: It is better to be late, Mr. Driver than to be the late Mr. Driver and wondered who heeded these words, these
Tonight
by Agha Shahid Ali Pale hands I loved beside the Shalimar — Laurence Hope Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell
2. Zainab’s Lament in Damascus
by Agha Shahid Ali A segment of the narrative poem “From Amherst to Kashmir” Over Hussain’s mansion what night has fallen? Look at me, O
A History of Paisley for Anuradha Dingwaney
by Agha Shahid Ali Their footsteps formed the paisley when Parvati, angry after a quarrel, ran away from Shiva. He eventually caught
Farewell for Patricia O’Neill
by Agha Shahid Ali Solitudinum faciunt et pacem appellant. — Tacitus (speaking through a British chieftain
The Wolf’s Postscript to “Little Red Riding Hood”
by Agha Shahid Ali First, grant me my sense of history: I did it for posterity, for kindergarten teachers and a clear moral: Little girls
Stationery
by Agha Shahid Ali The moon did not become the sun. It just fell on the desert in great sheets, reams of silver handmade by you. The night is
Foreword
by Hena Ahmad Agha Shahid Ali was a poet, an Indian – American, a Kashmiri – American, an “all – American Shiite” (as he
Reviews
Shahid Reads His Own Palm
by Reginald Dwayne Betts, 2009 Beatrice Hawley Award, 2010, Alice James Books, 80 pages, paper, $15.95, ISBN: 978-1-882295-81-4 Buy the Book In
Transistor Rodeo
by Jon Wilkins, University of Utah Press, 2010, 69 pages, paper, $12.95, ISBN: 978-1-60781-002-5 Buy the Book note regarding the following
In The Human Zoo
by Jennifer Perrine, University of Utah Press, 2011, 88 pages, paper, $12.95, ISBN: 978-1607811442 Buy the Book note regarding the following
Poet Biographies
Victoria Zak
is a writer, painter, and sculptor living in Holliston, Massachusetts. She met Shahid on a path at night at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference,
Douglas “Woody” Woodsum
met Shahid when they were both on staff at the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference in the 1980s. The first line of Woody’s poem alludes to “Mending
Jon Wilkins
is a professor at the Santa Fe Institute, where he studies theoretical evolutionary biology. His poems have appeared in the Colorado Review,
Andrea L. Watson
has published poetry in Runes, Cream City Review, The Dublin Quarterly, International Poetry Review, Nimrod, and other journals. Her show,
Eric Torgersen
has completed a book – length collection of ghazals to be called In Which We See Our Selves: American Ghazals. His two poems entitled “Of
Peggy O’Brien
is a member of the English Department at the University of Massachusetts — Amherst. She formerly taught at Trinity College, Dublin. She has
Susie Meserve
is the author of the chapbook Faith (Finishing Line Press, 2008). Her writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, Cimarron Review, Indiana Review, and
Christopher Merrill
has published four collections of poetry, including Brilliant Water and Watch Fire, for which he received the Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poets
D.K. McCutchen
earned an MFA at the University of Massachusetts — Amherst when Shahid ruled poetry. Lack of poetic – DNA led to a Pushcart nomination and
Peter Marcus
has recently had poems published in Boulevard, The Southern Review, and I Go To The Ruined Places, a human rights anthology. His poems have also
Dean Kostos
has published in Barrow Street Boulevard, Chelsea, Cimarron Review, The Cincinnati Review, Southwest Review, Western Humanities Review, among
Zilka Joseph
teaches in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in Kolkata, India. Her work has appeared in Review Americana, Gatronomica, Rattle, and The MacGuffin. She
Tony Hoagland
is the author of several poetry collections, including last year’s Unincorporated Personas in the Late Honda Dynasty; What Narcissism Means to
Yehudit Ben-Zvi Heller
is a poet and translator who holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature. Born and raised in Israel, Heller lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with her
Forrest Gander
is a poet, novelist, essayist, and translator. His recent books include the novel As a Friend; the book of poems Core Samples from the World;
Martín Espada
has published 17 books as a poet, editor, and translator. His collection of poems entitled The Republic of Poetry (Norton, 2006) received a
Michelle Demers
holds an MFA in poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts and an MA in professional writing. She has previously published in The Café Review, as
Jim Davis
is a graduate of Knox College and now lives, writes, and paints in Chicago. His poetry and short fiction have appeared or are forthcoming in
Hugh Coyle
has published in The Boston Review, New England Review, Green Mountains Review, American Authors, Christopher Street, Bay Windows, Art and
Stacey Chase
is a poetry editor at The Café Review and the editor of this issue. An award – winning journalist, Chase has published in The Boston Globe
Lorri Centineo
teaches in the Stardome Theater at the Southworth Planetarium in Portland, Maine and writes content for online science and ecology venues. In
Agha Shahid Ali
was born on February 4, 1949 in New Delhi and grew up Muslim in Kashmir. He earned a Ph.D. in English from Pennsylvania State University and an
Hena Ahmad
is a professor of English in the Department of English and Linguistics at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, where she teaches post
Caroline Adams
attends Kent Denver School in Colorado (Class of 2012). The 16 – year – old has been writing poetry since the age of 7. She enjoys
Artist Biographies
Reviewer Biographies
Mark Rice
studied poetry and received his MFA from New York University. He was runner – up in the 2010 Sow’s Ear Poetry Review Poetry Contest
Michael Macklin
makes poems and cabinets in Portland, Maine. He serves as one of The Café Review’s poetry editors. He is out in the woods now turning over rocks