Rukhaya’s Lost Canvas: Poetry of Resistance, Belonging, and Grief

Rukhaya’s Lost Canvas, published by Red River in January 2025, is a moving debut that blends the personal with the political, weaving together stories of identity, displacement, resistance, gender, and grief. Through her poems, Rukhaya makes space for reflection and dissent, showing how poetry can both grapple with the complications of contemporary life and act as a form of resistance.

The strength of Lost Canvas lies in its ability to confront uncomfortable truths while insisting on empathy and justice. Rukhaya writes with urgency, offering a voice to those who are often unheard and questioning the structures that sustain exclusion and discrimination. She moves fluidly between free verse and structured forms, with a style that is rich in imagery yet approachable, making her work both intellectually sharp and emotionally resonant.

Voices of the Marginalized

Rukhaya is at her most powerful when she writes for those pushed to the margins of society. In For Fathima, she remembers Fathima Lateef, a young woman whose death by suicide has been linked to religious discrimination:

"The dangerous ones tell me, you do not belong here,The more dangerous ones say, you are welcome here."

This tension between acceptance and rejection captures the hypocrisy of societies that claim inclusivity while denying belonging. The poem is both lament and demand for justice, forcing readers to reckon with the costs of silence around institutional prejudice.

In Corona Jihad, she writes about the communalisation of the COVID-19 pandemic, exposing how fear and misinformation were used to stigmatize Muslims. With lines like:

"Some are born Muslims, some become Muslims,And some have Islam thrust upon them,"

she highlights the absurdity of attaching blame to identity in a public health crisis. The poem is a sharp critique of how prejudice takes root in moments of collective anxiety, and how easily hate can be normalised.

Resistance and Identity

Questions of identity and belonging run throughout the collection. In CAA, Rukhaya critiques the Citizenship Amendment Act through the striking metaphor of motherhood:

"Ma, has any child in the world ever needed a certificateto prove they came from their mother?"

The simplicity of the question underscores the arbitrariness and cruelty of policies that demand proof of belonging from those who have always been part of the land.

In Hijab, she reclaims the conversation around women’s choices, countering stereotypes with biting clarity:

"This covers my hair, not my brain."

Here, as in many of her poems, Rukhaya challenges dominant narratives with sharp wit, offering an alternative that affirms autonomy and agency.

Grief and Remembrance

Not all of Lost Canvas is overtly political. Some of its most moving moments are deeply personal. In elegies like Mom and Ma, I am Sorry, grief unfolds with haunting intimacy:

"Your memory, a permanent refugeein what was once home."

The choice of the word “refugee” deepens the sense of loss, tying personal grief to themes of displacement and belonging. These poems remind us that mourning is both individual and collective, shaped by memory and history.

Style and Craft

Rukhaya writes with a mix of irony, sarcasm, and everyday metaphor, which allows her to tackle weighty subjects without losing clarity. Her work shifts between forms, mirroring the chaos and unpredictability of the realities she describes. This balance of accessibility and depth makes her voice distinctive and memorable.

A Fierce and Compassionate Voice

At its core, Lost Canvas is about resilience. Rukhaya writes with both anger and tenderness, demanding that readers confront injustice while also holding space for grief and healing. Her poems do not allow us to look away. Instead they ask us to question what kind of society we are building and what role we play within it.

More than anything, Lost Canvas shows how poetry can spark conversation, unsettle complacency, and remind us of the human stories often buried beneath political debates. It is a book to be read, shared, and returned to because its questions linger long after the page is turned.