Meta-Commentary Essay on “If They Come for Us” by Fatima Asghar

Posted: January 4th, 2023

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Meta-Commentary Essay on “If They Come for Us” by Fatima Asghar

Fatima Asghar’s poem “If They Come for Us” brings together the stories of a family and a home, love, history, sexuality, and religion. The narrator employs new and old approaches in her narration as she shifts from the past to the current incidences. Even when it is apparent that some of the experiences and memories do not refer to the speaker, the reader learns they all belong to her after reading and comprehending the poem. A motherland, even though it is not seen in the poem vividly, is in her blood, with the trauma suffered by her ancestors residing within her DNA.[1] The cultural memory sticks in the narrator’s mind like a knife, and she might not be able to get rid of it, but she could select not to twist it. The speaker, however, twists it, and by doing so, she exposes herself to kindness to strangers and painful truths. The cultural memories in the narrator’s body are unavoidable, but instead of running away, she faces them courageously, deal with them, and finally wins. From the onset, it is evident that the persona seems to be assertive, relatable, and informed. Overall, she has to be endearing to the readers by remaining true to her situation.

Instead of illustrating emotions and feelings, the poem desires to clarify an explicit statement. As portrayed by Case in “I ka Piko, to the Summit: Resistance from the Mountain to the Sea” where the aspects of space pushes a distinct agenda, Asghar applies the concept of a wound figuratively to invite the readers to undergo the experiences and learn from them.[2][3] After reading the poem, one becomes conscious of the narrator’s intention to remain oblivious to the political associations of her situation and instead focus on the history of the circumstances. For instance, the poem reminds the readers of how the Muslim religion is persecuted, with the “Sikh uncle at the airport having to apologize for the pat”.[4] Overall, the poem plays on the religious emotions of the readers, using terms such as “brown” and “Muslim” to influence their perceptions with regard to stereotypes. 

However, the poet manages to balance between reflection and facts. Although there are essential facts to augment the poet’s emotions, she presents them metaphorically, which makes her work a less formal way of addressing her issues. The same approach is seen in Wong’s work titled “My Therapist Asks If I Would Be Happier If I Were Straight” in which instead of stating her intended purpose, she desires to demonstrate facts instead of telling about feelings.[5] Besides, the intention of an inconclusive statement permits readers to reflect further upon the pieces. To complement the incomplete end, Asghar and Wong incorporate personal feelings to act as guidelines. Based on past and present occurrences, Asghar demonstrates that the characters that occupy a special place in people’s hearts are those that are unafraid of remaining true to their selves. She refers to cultural and religious persecution at the risk of being ridiculed by the readers. All in all, the poet does not want to be perceived as a person who believes in stereotyping of certain people based on religion, race, culture, and beliefs, but she chooses a non-fiction version of narration to invoke certain feelings among her readers.

The narrator uses herself as the main character instead of attempting to strike a balance between herself and the other characters, for example, her kin for a substantial part of the poem. She deliberately lets her personality take over to make the poem sound more like an individual remembrance than a proper research paper. In the poem, the distinctive application of the first person pronoun “I” is evident.[6] Through the use of first person pronoun, she can acknowledge the emotional indifference that individuals have regarding pertinent issues like religious and cultural persecution and discrimination. In hindsight, the more she demonstrates her factual awareness, the more it is evident that people lack emotional acknowledgment. Since the readers are prone to compare themselves to the protagonist and antagonist, the narrator hopes that the readers might realize their emotional indifference to present global events. In fact, the narrator desires to elicit specific emotions from readers by offering a personal account of her experiences and those of others she views as her kin.

Overall, the poet uses clear and simple statements and examples to elicit particular feelings among the readers regarding religious and cultural persecution in the current world. From the onset, the narrator is clear regarding her stance on the issue, which is that her Muslim religion faces persecution relentlessly, and that she will go to any extent to remain faithful to her people. She applies a fusion of fiction and personal reflections to elicit the emotions of her readers because of the tendency for the audience to remain emotionally indifferent in such matters. Finally, she uses examples of historical events and blends her character with that of others to present her perspective on the global events. 

Works Cited

Asghar, Fatima. “If They Should Come for Us.” Poetry Foundation, March 2017,

            www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/92374/if-they-should-come-for-us.

            Accessed 31 Jan. 2020.

Case, Emalani. “I ka Piko, To the Summit: Resistance from the Mountain to the Sea.” The

Journal of Pacific History, vol. 54, no. 2, 2019, pp. 166-181.

Wong, Shelly. “My Therapist Asks if I Would Be Happier if I Were Straight.” The

            Massachusetts Review, vol. 59, no. 4, 2018, p. 653.

[1] Fatima Asghar. “If They Should Come for Us.” Poetry Foundation, March 2017, www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/92374/if-they-should-come-for-us. Accessed 31 Jan. 2020.

[2] Asghar. “If They Should Come for Us.”

[3] Emalani Case. “I ka Piko, To the Summit: Resistance from the Mountain to the Sea.” The Journal of Pacific History, vol. 54, no. 2, 2019, pp. 167.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Wong, Shelly. “My Therapist Asks if I Would Be Happier if I Were Straight.” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 59, no. 4, 2018, p. 653.

[6] Fatima. “If They Should Come for Us.”