Qudsia Akhtar Celebrating her Mother Sajdha Akhtar
A Portrait of Sajdha, My Mother
I fondly trace the outlines of you
in the picture: Saeed’s daughter,
a young wife leaving
familiarity and family
for unseen tomorrows
in a distant country,
becoming a woman
and crossing borders
at nineteen.
I could draw in the details
of seven children, of devotion,
of sacrifice, of constancy.
Your stare reveals the women
who made you, she
who crafted me whole.
I see compulsion, ambition,
fear and a longing
for home.
I always see you as complete,
never process the movement
in you
nor the journeys and choices
that came to strengthen the core
of you.
The core of me
carries your visions
and your presence.
As I craft this portrait,
I long to learn you
and speak your existence
returning always
to you wholly devoted.
- Qudsia Akhtar ©
