POETS’ CORNER

Poems forever

A bird came down the walk

By Emily Dickinson

A Bird, came down the Walk –

He did not know I saw –

He bit an Angle Worm in halves

And ate the fellow, raw,

And then, he drank a Dew

From a convenient Grass –

And then hopped sidewise to the Wall

To let a Beetle pass –

He glanced with rapid eyes,

That hurried all abroad –

They looked like frightened Beads, I thought,

He stirred his Velvet Head. –

Like one in danger, Cautious,

I offered him a Crumb,

And he unrolled his feathers,

And rowed him softer Home –

Than Oars divide the Ocean,

Too silver for a seam,

Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon,

Leap, plashless as they swim.

An ode to a late mother

By Anas Khan

The scent of your presence

Tells me you are near,

But the fear of being wrong

Holds me back in fear.

When I dare and stumble,

Even your scent fades too

The weight of not knowing

Is what pulls me through.

Now I walk alone,

But your memory stays

I cherish our moments,

Still lost in your gaze.

A shambled fringe, no gains in sight,

And distant lands drift out of light.

Yet hope still kneels in quiet prayer,

Longing for your tender care.

Amore mio persa in Venezia
(My love, lost in Venice)

By Abid Agha

I lost you where the waters gleam,

In Venice - like a fading dream.

Beneath San Marco’s flickering light,

You slipped into the velvet night.

Amore mio, your breath, your grace,

Still fill each bridge, each quiet place.

The gondola still hums our tune,

Beneath the sighs of a jealous moon.

The lanterns weep along the dock,

Where once you softly looked at me.

A vow in whispers, sweet but brief

Now echoes on in silent grief.

Next morning came with cold regret

A wave, a tear, a last sunset.

No map can find what slipped away,

No tide can turn the course that day.

Amore mio… Venice weeps with every rain;

Her voice echoes soft with pain.

In every seashell, in every sea,

Venezia keeps what’s left of me.

I wonder

By Mahnoor Ghous

I wonder why, I wonder how

I became this bitter, this sour.

It’s hard to believe

What I’ve become—

This isn’t me.

So rude, so blunt...

I used to be kind, so gentle.

When did I turn foul and cruel?

But nothing happens without a reason.

If I’ve changed, there must be a cause.

Ask yourself—what triggered it?

You changed me, once and for all.

All your lies, all your actions,

You caused this pain, left me to burn—

And didn’t bother what would become.

Now here you are, standing before me,

Looking at the aftermath of your brutality,

Pretending like you don’t know anything.

This heart you broke—

Once? Twice? No, more times than I can count.

It used to be delicate, soft as snow.

But every time I tried to piece it together,

It turned more into stone.

Yes, I’ve changed—yes, I know.

But I feel stronger than I’ve ever been before.