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  • Women Bathing
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Women Bathing

Imtiaz Dharker

All our lives, in every city,
out of every landscape
the waters of the Alhambra
have been murmuring to us.
From fountains, from watercourses,
from the secret pools in courtyards,
voices calling across centuries.

The other women are bathing
in the moonlight.

‘Come,’ they say, ‘Come out of the day’s heat,
out of shaded rooms, let’s escape and slip away,
let the veils fall, one by one.
Slide into the pools that lie like mirrors of the sky,
and let the moon wash over our bodies.’

Bodies lush, generously-hipped.
Bodies like pomegranates,
bursting with promises.


Imtiaz Dharker

from The Terrorist At My Table (Tarset: Bloodaxe, 2006)

Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

Tags:

sensuality women
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Imtiaz Dharkerb.1954

Born in Pakistan, Imtiaz Dharker grew up in Glasgow and now lives between India, London and Wales.
More about Imtiaz Dharker

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