29 April, 2020: Nabeela Saghir

United Kingdom


Little Parcels
 
A slow gold burn, lamb-and-pea-filled shells
all day I imagine their flakes falling from lip to plate
spiced, smooth, a prayer the size of my mother’s palm
their journey begins at 8am in strange kitchen light,
the sky’s hangover from Sehri stretches
through the window, onto the floured worktop
little white stars stirred with oil and salt
my mother peels the dough off her fingers,
washed in time for Zuhr, a midday kneeling before
it starts again set to medium heat, a marigold
blooming from the hob infused with cumin
and fennel, ginger, crushed coriander, chilli to taste
she lines the dough with meat and builds,
a careful crossing and folding before it slides
into crisp heat – it’s Maghrib now,
I place the aam, sliced in the shape of crescents
on the dining room table, sticky date syrup and lassi
in place for when my mother carries them in,
sizzling slick with light grease spotted with black pepper
and then we wait, and wait, for the first bite of samosa
to stitch itself to tongue, to shed its pastry skin
spread its curled wing, newly born, just in time for Iftar.
 
 

Nabeela Saghir is an English graduate from Keele University, with a British-Pakistani background. She currently runs an online blog on all things poetry and aims to publish a short poetry collection in the next few years. https://nabsticle.com/