Lait & Let Die
she stirred it at midnight
in a kameez streaked with yesterday’s curry
no bra; hair in a riot; one sock on
legs slick with perspiration & old crave
milk sweating at the pot’s rim
like a virgin being frenched for the first time
he sauntered in like a man
who mastered no abashment; no slumber either
his fly half down
a hickey from another damsel still bruising his neck
& the stench of someone else’s perfume
hugged to him like a remorse that won’t confess
she didn’t flinch
she ladled slower… slower… & slower…
he lit the cigarette with the same fingers
that once grazed her labia—
as if sleuthing for the deserted coins
in an abyssal pocket
she whispered nothing but
the kheer transpired to thicken—boiling in rhythm
with her respiration
twitching with every reminiscence he didn’t apologize for
he mouthed, ‘want help’
she didn’t stare up; just parted her lips—
not to vocalize but to blow air into the steam
like panting into a motel’s fogged mirror
after backseat sins
she let the milk rise & rise…
then slapped it back with a wooden spoon savagely
as if punishing the hallowed ghosts
in her pelvis
he came closer; she didn’t glide
he leaned in
his crotch brushing her hips like a dare
she yanked the ladle out languid
scooped a mouthful; blew it volitionally
then arched to him, breathed: ‘unfold’
he heeded but the kheer hit his tongue
like scalding veracity—too sweet too hot
viscous with a bitterness no honey could drown
his mouth singed but he didn’t spit it out
he munched it like munching the truth for the first time
she guffawed, lounged the ladle down & murmured: ‘i grasp’
behind her
the pot was seething over
the slab was gluey now
with more than lait
Hannan Khan
Hannan Khan—a nefelibata, poet, fiction writer, editor, and scholar of literature & linguistics from Pakistan. He combs through moments of love, death, delirium & relational complexities, seraphically tracing what’s breathed and what flickers unbreathed. He is the winner of the Native Voices Award 2025 for his poetry collection Isn't Cooked Is Cursed. When he craves reprieve, he devours dark thrillers like he’s dissecting crime scenes—psychological, raw, unpredictable. He sips coffee & reads Manto. His work has appeared in IHRAM Literary Magazine, Graveside Press, SpecPoVerse, Eye To The Telescope, Abyss & Apex, The Headlight Review, The Literary Hatchet, Winds Of Asia, Zoetic Press and Uncanny Magazine and is forthcoming in Native Voices Anthology.
Instagram: @hannan.khan.official