Sublime

classical ghazal by Ustad Sarahang.

Call it Art stealing Life’s thunder.

Because the past claws its way out.

Ahmad Zahir

There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.

longhaired men and women we always saw hanging

despite his illiteracy, or maybe because of it, Hassan was drawn to the mystery of words, seduced by a secret world forbidden to him.

I brought Hassan’s son from Afghanistan to America, lifting him from the certainty of turmoil and dropping him in a turmoil of uncertainty.