Of writing many books there is no end;
And I who have written much in prose and verse
For others’ uses, will write now for mine,–
Will write my story for my better self,
As when you paint your portrait for a friend,
Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it
Long after he has ceased to love you, just
To hold together what he was and is
- Excerpted from Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
By Sa’ad Nazeer
Your soul ran dry
As the brook in the foliage
From the callings of the summer
—- Runs dry,
Sucked by the wanton evening
The crimson of your lips,
What rain brought down
The winds carried it
To wherever I was —- deciphering you.
This sad stillness about your eyes;
Something held back there,
Something which was unsaid
For a long, long time.
Your body’s utter rebellion
Against the tyranny of sheets,
The battle of wits being fought
With the thunderstorms,
You pressed yourself against me
Like an epiphany
And babbled out those words
That have caused blood to boil;
blood to freeze;
And at length I replied
With kisses wild,
The brook in the foliage
Sprang to life —- one last time.
By Maheen Batool
As the night falls
The funeral begins
All these stars that wander
The lonely sky
Have seen the dispirited me
The clouds that roam the blackened skies
Have all felt my growing anxiety
If only they could help
I wouldn’t be so depressed
By Laraib Zakir
I knew I was walking towards you.
But why?
No, I didn’t know that.
It was just that you were there and I had to come to you.
No, I couldn’t see you,
I wouldn’t be able to,
Till the morning.
But for now I wanted to listen to you,
To walk in secrecy to you.
I could see the moon,
Nearing to you
Just as I was.
Did you say something to it?
It was pulling you towards itself.
Your thunders,
Were so calming,
Only because I find
Serenity in everything fierce.
It was utterly dark,
The starry night enveloped us together
In solitude.
I loved how with every little step,
We were closer.
It was that,
That without seeing you,
I could feel the passageways that you took,
Where you turned,
Where you slowed down
And just how you knew
That I was there.
Compiled by SK
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