POETS’ CORNER

The Vagabond

By Robert Louis Stevenson

Give to me the life I love,

Let the lave go by me,

Give the jolly heaven above

And the byway nigh me.

Bed in the bush with stars to see,

Bread I dip in the river -

There’s the life for a man like me,

There’s the life for ever.

Let the blow fall soon or late,

Let what will be o’er me;

Give the face of earth around

And the road before me.

Wealth I seek not, hope nor love,

Nor a friend to know me;

All I seek, the heaven above

And the road below me.

Or let autumn fall on me

Where afield I linger,

Silencing the bird on tree,

Biting the blue finger.

White as meal the frosty field -

Warm the fireside haven -

Not to autumn will I yield,

Not to winter even!

Let the blow fall soon or late,

Let what will be o’er me;

Give the face of earth around,

And the road before me.

Wealth I ask not, hope nor love,

Nor a friend to know me;

All I ask, the heaven above

And the road below me.

A swipe in sciamachy

By Areesh Zahrah

Depression, anxiety, sorrow and stress

Anger, jealousy, pain and regrets

Misery, malice and grief-stricken-ness

All of us’ve faced these pointless threats

Destroying our harmony into tiny blebs

I ask myself, “What are these trends?”

A certain combo o’ negative blends?

Or something beautiful inside dwells?

For sure, my friend, they’ve genuine strikes

But good are those who positively deal with these uninvited clients

They are not a malice, but guides from the aside

Each has been sent as a message of success,

Clearing you out for some new delight

So be content and honourably invite

Take a deep breath, sustain and don’t dull your smile

As for the positive souls, they are motivation and dignity divine

Because positive is the side-effect of handling the negative strife.

What am I made of?

By Zainab Ayub

Often I wonder,

What am I made of?

Air, water, fire or earth -

Not being pedantic;

But it’s none of those.

I am forged with dreams,

I am a muse, a maestro;

Perhaps a celestial constellation,

Farther than Polaris,

Beyond that glossy Neptune;

My light eclipses Sirius’s halo.

I am a work of art that you can’t fathom;

Elusively radiant but I tell you the hack,

It lies in the maxim:

Fragile, handle with care!