\n
In the house once occupied by soldiers
laughter echoes
as three women sing<\/p>\n
Yamberzal sutures a song
Banafsha, her daughter, gathers a distich
and urges her aunt, Sombul, to carry it on <\/p>\n
Outside, dark enfolds the mountains
thousands of stars gather in clandestine assemblages
a brook gushes inconsolably
bright yellow flowers
murmur spring\u2019s arrival to the insurrectionary night wind<\/p>\n
Sombul looks across the gently rising ridges
to the south, she tells me, is the lake cradling tempests
she points toward the military camp overlooking
their home, fields, apple trees<\/p>\n
The Line of Control
traces a haphazard arc
far along the hamlet\u2019s northern edge
toward west, it gapes like an open bracket<\/p>\n
On a map, the Line exists as a dotted strip
a 740-km \u201copen wound\u201d <\/p>\n
sundering
meadows and mountains
rivers and songs<\/p>\n
Banafsha fetches her mother\u2019s \u201csound box\u201d
as she turns it on
voices of a wedding troupe
abruptly lash against the room<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom your wedding fabrics<\/em>
we stitched a shroud<\/em>
your blood-soaked garment\u2014<\/em>
who shall wash it, alas!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nBanafsha was a year and a half, she tells me,
when her father was killed\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s house was burnt down.
This house belongs to my maternal grandfather,
for three years this was an army camp\u201d<\/p>\n
Laughter turns to dust,
night passes in an unknown but palpable fear,
and grief spreads through the house
like a low hum
swelling in the dark
resonant through its every crevice<\/p>\n
As dawn crawls in through door slits,
we gather again lugging the night in our hearts
snowy mountains and ridges
awash in mist
grappling with light<\/p>\n
In her checkered pheran and turquoise scarf,
Sombul sits by the hearth
watching dying embers<\/p>\n
The floral rug
\u2014pallid
its blue hues stolen by time<\/p>\n
Yamberzal reaches for her medicines
on the sill behind her bed,
a fall in the meadows
while gathering herbs has left her broken, she says,
as she enumerates the healing plants found in the nearby forests:
hand<\/em>, tripater<\/em>, sheel hakh<\/em>, koth<\/em>, kahzaban<\/em><\/p>\nTwo friends stop by,
Banafsha initiates the recall of songs
amid rounds of tea and freshly baked bread
women gather fragments,
holding each other
along memory\u2019s ruthless terrain<\/p>\n
In the house\u2014
once occupied by soldiers,
voices soar
with refrains
of the ungrievable dead
geographies of loss resound
place after place
a roll call of the dead
refrain after refrain\u2014
those who died near the border<\/p>\n
those who crossed never to return:
Rasheed, Nabb\u2019e Kak, Javaid, Manzoor, Zahoor, <\/em>
Gulzar, Rahman, Bayt\u2019e, Magg\u2019e Maam, Latif, Sadaam<\/em> \u2026<\/p>\n\u201cRasheed was my paternal cousin,\u201d Banafsha interjects\u2014
\u201cManzoor was my nephew. Sadaam was also from here,\u201d Sombul says\u2014
\u201cIf we sing the names of all those we have lost,
night will descend and our song shall remain incomplete\u201d<\/p>\n
In each of their songs,
I listen to time\u2019s severance
\u2014an almostness<\/p>\n
\u201cThese songs shall journey far away\u2014across times,\u201d Yamberzal
murmurs, pointing toward my recorder<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the house once occupied by soldierslaughter echoesas three women sing Yamberzal sutures a songBanafsha, her daughter, gathers a distichand urges her aunt, Sombul, to carry it on Outside, dark enfolds the mountainsthousands of stars gather in clandestine assemblagesa brook gushes inconsolablybright yellow flowersmurmur spring\u2019s arrival to the insurrectionary night wind Sombul looks across the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":313095,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11767],"tags":[25085,16126,20049,1238,7942,16132,34588,16837],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-313094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anthropology","tag-border","tag-colonialism","tag-indigenous","tag-music","tag-place","tag-sapiens","tag-sounding","tag-violence"],"yoast_head":"\n
Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the house once occupied by soldierslaughter echoesas three women sing Yamberzal sutures a songBanafsha, her daughter, gathers a distichand urges her aunt, Sombul, to carry it on Outside, dark enfolds the mountainsthousands of stars gather in clandestine assemblagesa brook gushes inconsolablybright yellow flowersmurmur spring\u2019s arrival to the insurrectionary night wind Sombul looks across the […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-23T06:53:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-23T06:53:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\"},\"wordCount\":453,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Border\",\"Colonialism\",\"Indigenous\",\"Music\",\"Place\",\"SAPIENS\",\"Sounding\",\"Violence\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Anthropology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\",\"name\":\"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-23T06:53:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":960},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network","og_description":"In the house once occupied by soldierslaughter echoesas three women sing Yamberzal sutures a songBanafsha, her daughter, gathers a distichand urges her aunt, Sombul, to carry it on Outside, dark enfolds the mountainsthousands of stars gather in clandestine assemblagesa brook gushes inconsolablybright yellow flowersmurmur spring\u2019s arrival to the insurrectionary night wind Sombul looks across the […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-11-23T06:53:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":960,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS","datePublished":"2025-11-23T06:53:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094"},"wordCount":453,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg","keywords":["Border","Colonialism","Indigenous","Music","Place","SAPIENS","Sounding","Violence"],"articleSection":["Anthropology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094","name":"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg","datePublished":"2025-11-23T06:53:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Falak-Sounding-the-Border-header-1280x960.jpg","width":1280,"height":960},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=313094#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sounding the Border \u2013 SAPIENS"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=313094"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313094\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/313095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=313094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=313094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=313094"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=313094"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=313094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}