Oh, Begum Jaan

(Written as a response to Ismat Chughtai's character, Begum Jaan, in her short story, "The Quilt". The poem is an example of concrete poetry-a form where the poem follows an unconventional structure and visual pattern to signify a particular message; in this case, the gaping hole in the middle represents Begum Jaan's insatiable desire as well as the harm she inflicted on her niece, the unnamed narrator of the short story.)

Oh, Begum, you beautiful concubine, you glorified mistress, you lorn woman, you stupid
wench. Oh, Begum, you're Jaan in name alone. Oh, Begum, not your fault the Nawab has
eyes only for young, fair, slender-waisted boys. Oh, I know, I know, they told you he was
chaste and noble. His beard, neatly trimmed, not a trace of infidelity.
You should have listened to your Amma, when she said that
those kinds of men exist only in dreams. Oh, I know, I know,
He locked you up like some decorative trophy, and then
hunted for cheap coins on the streets. You didn't
want some Ashoka Kumar, just a man who'd look
only at you and no one else. How were you supposed
to know that he would not look at a girl, any girl, at
all? That itch of yours never did go away, did it? Ha!
Those useless old fools, what do they know? Your kind of
sickness isn't some lovesick flu, Just ask the Nawab. After all,
he felt it too. And that silly little girl you ensnared in your trap.
She looked up to you (ha!), and look what you did. Did you know, Jaan,
you ruined that poor girl's life? How was she to know that being a little rough around the
edges would cost her this much of her innocence? Did you know, Jaan? Ay, answer me,
you old doll. Oh, what’s that you say? They didn’t understand you-it was only ever desire
that drove your moves? Ha! Oh, you silly old fool, it’s not the wanting that spells doom,
It’s when it comes from spindly old women like you.