Netherlands Poetry Magazine –

"A Painting of Smoke and Exile" by Zahir Turaj

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May 15th, 2026

Netherlands Poetry Contest #1 – First Place

A Painting of Smoke and Exile

by Zahir Turaj 

The rosary of my homeland's memories—
I string its beads
not with thread,
but with my veins.
 
From a room with an open window
to an alley
that still smells
of bread and gunpowder.
 
Rings of cigarette smoke
become a map of Kabul:
a street
that boils from the mouth of fire
and buries itself
in my throat.
 
My heart
recognizes love
in a word
that breaks
before it can be spoken.
 
In the mirror—
not a face,
but the shadow of tanks,
and a line of escape
across my own forehead.
 
And I
light the tobacco leaf again—
not for forgetting,
but so the smoke
might open the eyes of history
to see—
 
amid the ashes of my homeland,
we learned to breathe
like exiles.


About the Poet
Zahir Turaj resides in Zeewolde, Flevoland, Netherlands.
Read the poet's biography and Wax Poetry and Art publications on Zahir Turaj's Artist Page.

This poem is also featured in Poetry World #15, published in the Wax Poetry and Art Library.

Keywords: Kabul, history, homeland, exile

Previously published in Netherlands Poetry Magazine:
This is the first poem published.

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