City of Pearls
"City of Pearls is one continuous gift-giver. Sham-e-Ali Nayeem lusciously, unselfishly and most certainly, unapologetically shares with us the magic and glory of story. Stories made from lived lives...full with words and images that speak of...place, purpose, father, family, fragility, strength, beauty, suffering, celebration. Stories to hold us tight...and inspire us to continue dreaming through it all."
—Ursula Rucker, author of Supa Sista

"I was brought back to the landscapes of my childhood by these sensitive poems. So quietly but firmly do they evoke not only the shattered rocks of Hyderabad but also the ways in which some of us live perpetually between, belong neither to one place nor the other, always in transit, always hoping for news from 'home.'"
—Kazim Ali, author of Inquisition

"This book is a hamlet, a jewel box, a compass. Sham-e-Ali Nayeem strings the tender odds and ends of memory into a dazzling odyssey across the continents of daughterhood and motherhood. We are born from places as much as people, these poems remind us. City of Pearls soars with the dignity mined from a life lit with leavings.”
—Yolanda Wisher, author of Monk Eats an Afro

"There is nothing more important to love than memory, and Sham-e-Ali’s stunning debut collection is full of love. Awash in the fragrance of mourning and yearning, these poems stretch out, split into tributaries, condense into coral clouds - above all, they nourish. Both affectionate and merciless, this book is a “place where it all worked out.” It is a gift to breathe with it."—Bao Phi, author of Thousand Star Hotel

1129421201
City of Pearls
"City of Pearls is one continuous gift-giver. Sham-e-Ali Nayeem lusciously, unselfishly and most certainly, unapologetically shares with us the magic and glory of story. Stories made from lived lives...full with words and images that speak of...place, purpose, father, family, fragility, strength, beauty, suffering, celebration. Stories to hold us tight...and inspire us to continue dreaming through it all."
—Ursula Rucker, author of Supa Sista

"I was brought back to the landscapes of my childhood by these sensitive poems. So quietly but firmly do they evoke not only the shattered rocks of Hyderabad but also the ways in which some of us live perpetually between, belong neither to one place nor the other, always in transit, always hoping for news from 'home.'"
—Kazim Ali, author of Inquisition

"This book is a hamlet, a jewel box, a compass. Sham-e-Ali Nayeem strings the tender odds and ends of memory into a dazzling odyssey across the continents of daughterhood and motherhood. We are born from places as much as people, these poems remind us. City of Pearls soars with the dignity mined from a life lit with leavings.”
—Yolanda Wisher, author of Monk Eats an Afro

"There is nothing more important to love than memory, and Sham-e-Ali’s stunning debut collection is full of love. Awash in the fragrance of mourning and yearning, these poems stretch out, split into tributaries, condense into coral clouds - above all, they nourish. Both affectionate and merciless, this book is a “place where it all worked out.” It is a gift to breathe with it."—Bao Phi, author of Thousand Star Hotel

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City of Pearls

City of Pearls

by Sham-e-Ali Nayeem
City of Pearls

City of Pearls

by Sham-e-Ali Nayeem

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Overview

"City of Pearls is one continuous gift-giver. Sham-e-Ali Nayeem lusciously, unselfishly and most certainly, unapologetically shares with us the magic and glory of story. Stories made from lived lives...full with words and images that speak of...place, purpose, father, family, fragility, strength, beauty, suffering, celebration. Stories to hold us tight...and inspire us to continue dreaming through it all."
—Ursula Rucker, author of Supa Sista

"I was brought back to the landscapes of my childhood by these sensitive poems. So quietly but firmly do they evoke not only the shattered rocks of Hyderabad but also the ways in which some of us live perpetually between, belong neither to one place nor the other, always in transit, always hoping for news from 'home.'"
—Kazim Ali, author of Inquisition

"This book is a hamlet, a jewel box, a compass. Sham-e-Ali Nayeem strings the tender odds and ends of memory into a dazzling odyssey across the continents of daughterhood and motherhood. We are born from places as much as people, these poems remind us. City of Pearls soars with the dignity mined from a life lit with leavings.”
—Yolanda Wisher, author of Monk Eats an Afro

"There is nothing more important to love than memory, and Sham-e-Ali’s stunning debut collection is full of love. Awash in the fragrance of mourning and yearning, these poems stretch out, split into tributaries, condense into coral clouds - above all, they nourish. Both affectionate and merciless, this book is a “place where it all worked out.” It is a gift to breathe with it."—Bao Phi, author of Thousand Star Hotel


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781937357894
Publisher: UpSet Press
Publication date: 04/09/2019
Edition description: 1
Pages: 85
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Sham-e-Ali Nayeem is a poet and visual artist who was born in Hyderabad, India and raised in both the UK and the US. A former public interest lawyer supporting economic justice for survivors of family violence, Sham-e-Ali is a recipient of the Loft Literary Center’s Spoken Word Immersion Fellowship.

Table of Contents

Invocation 17

Hyderabad Evening 19

River Musi 20

Overnight Train 22

Partition Story 23

Airport Parking Lot 27

One Half History Lost 28

My Father's MRI 29

All the Things We Never Say 31

Impossible 35

Ledger 36

Before Bombing 37

How We Would Change 39

Remember the Night 41

Place of Birth 43

Qurbani 45

Eid ul-Fitr 47

Niyaz at My Mother's 48

Expert 49

Goddesses and Doormats 51

An Everyday Occurrence 53

Strangers on the Train 55

Beginning of Something 56

Blessed Divine Woman 58

Seeing Ourselves 60

Hypothetic-ally Speaking 63

Masoor Dal 64

Channeling 65

Ocean Fixes Everything 67

Moth 68

Birth 69

Finding Home 70

Heaven Lies at the Feet 73

Meri Jaan 75

Left Breast 76

Between You and You 78

Notes 83

Acknowledgements 84

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