Saudade

Mumtaz Khorakiwala’s Saudade is a hauntingly beautiful poetry collection that weaves longing, memory, displacement, and love into an intricate lyrical tapestry. Anchored in the Portuguese concept of saudade—a bittersweet yearning for what is absent or lost—the book captures the elusive nature of remembrance through deeply evocative poems.

Divided into sections, the volume guides readers on an emotional journey—from ghost towns and cultural erasure, through diasporic migrations, to reflections on love and solitude. Each poem stands alone in power, yet together they form a poignant symphony of nostalgia and fractured belonging. Whether it’s the aching silence of a once-vibrant ancestral home in “Five Paise Popsicle,” or the scent of mangoes acting as a bridge between continents and generations, her imagery is rich, sensory, and profoundly intimate.

The section on urban alienation and modern loneliness is especially resonant, portraying the silent distances between city dwellers with sharp insight. Her deft handling of intergenerational trauma, war, and displacement in poems like “An Epistle to My Younger Self” add a layered socio-political consciousness to the emotional narrative.

Letters, epistles, and imagined dialogues—like her fictitious exchange between Linda Pastan and Kunwar Narain—become poetic devices that bring depth and dimension to the collection. Language here is not just medium, but memory itself.

Her exploration of love in the last section avoids sentimentality, opting instead for layered explorations of desire, separation, devotion, and the mysticism of connection. The poetic voice is meditative yet grounded, emotional but never overwrought. The ghazals and classical echoes add a lyrical gravitas that uplifts the entire collection.

Ultimately, Saudade is not just a book of poems—it is a quiet excavation of the human soul. It lingers like the faint smell of rain on dry earth, calling the reader to pause, reflect, and feel deeply.