The Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947 is rarely spoken about in American history classes, much less in poetry books. The forced migration of 14 million people—Muslims to Pakistan, Hindus to India—left divisions that families still grieve over today. Writer Fatimah Asghar, 28, spent most of her life not knowing how partition affected her family, until the history was passed down to her when she was in college. Now, in the wake of the Trump administration’s many crackdowns on immigration and border control, and its separation of families, Asghar’s collection of poems reflecting on her family’s history, titled If They Come for Us, reads like a warning. Her poetry examines the recurring nature of borders. When an invisible line is drawn, people are divided by varying ideologies, faiths, and politics.
Asghar’s parents moved to the United States from Lahore in the mid-80s, before she was born. They died when she and her siblings were still very young; they were raised by other immigrants in their family and community. Asghar writes about finding a family that transcends blood because its members bond over a shared history. She makes the case that family transcends borders too.
Asghar does think the webseries’ themes surrounding sexuality and what it means to be an adult are contemplated in the book too. Some of the poems—those about friendship and body exploration and playing with Barbies—do shift from the political toward the intimate and personal. But while those poems are a relief from the weight of more serious topics, they are still reminders that her particular point of view—that of a queer woman of color who was once a brown girl who played with white-skinned Barbies—has often been marginalized or overlooked.
By Fatimah Asghar (One World). Reading Sun 8/12, 6 PM, Women & Children First, 5233 N. Clark,773-769-9299, womenandchildrenfirst.com. F
