Shakespeare’s tribute to his patroness, Queen Elizabeth I
“That very time I saw - but thou couldst not -
Flying between the cold moon and the earth,
Cupid all arm’d: a certain aim he took
At a fair vestal throned by the west,
And loos’d his love-shaft smartly from his bow
As it should pierce a hundred-thousand hearts:
But I might see young Cupid’s fiery shaft
Quench’d in the chaste beams of the watery moon,
And the imperial votaress passed on,
In maiden meditation fancy free.”
- A Midsummer-Night’s Dream, Act II., Sc. i.
The tree and he
By Vaheid Khizar
When autumn nights are around
I see a sky cuddling with
Some thick brown clouds
Their roar echoes a rich laughter
The moonlight tries to pave its way
But they hinder
And with rain
Continue to celebrate
Their bond and love
Without knowing the fact that
These nights and clouds
These roars and laughter
And these autumnal rains
Have given
Colour to my parted fickle leaves
And
Life to his forgotten painful memories!
Infinity
By Zarmeen Khalid
Love, like they say
Makes way for sanity
From the reflection of the soul
To the depiction of internality
But let’s ruin the clichés
For the sake of our fondness
From the depths of negation
To the heights of insanity
Let’s run away
To the last corner of our infinity!
Faithfulness
By Shafi Rehman
I have survived in the storm of disbelief
and conquered my heart for its relief
To seek the path, I am searching for light
That burns so brightly out of my sight
The battle within self had proven to be right
and still I am flying at the top of my height
My wings are burning without my desire
But I am still not afraid of this fire
This passion has to reside deep inside me
And again I want to dive deep into the sea
If truth was what remains untold
What I ask you can’t unfold
Lost and Found
By Asma Zainab
All my life I’ve been
My best sober self,
Avoiding all addictions
That life had to offer
Only to lose it all,
After all
But this time,
I’m going to lose myself
To the bitter crack
And the sweet wine
To forget everything
And leave it all behind
As I shoot agony
As laughter in the sky
And dance
Till my tears run dry
The rain
By Aafia Tehrim
The rain is killing
the thirst in my memories!
Bringing the serenity
in the chaotic scenery!
The drops are pouring from the sky
on the shattered parts of me!
Letting me afloat
above the waves of ecstasy!
Now there is a sense of company
between me and nature, mutually!
The malignant surprise
By Neelum Afridi
The silent stories, the words, the whispers
The eyes, the movements, the actions,
In the dark tunnel underground,
Are all measured and bound.
They aim for the blue sky above
Everyone shipshape for a surprise at the other end
The malignant force surprise them
Rather in a different form.
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