Poetry

By Janae Smyth She was born in a desert Theory was stay on the same path do not divert Surely one day she’ll find grass covered dirt But instead stumbled upon people and opinions Soon enough the baron wasteland became her prison She’s wondering if her dream will live on So many options, choosing just one would be a phenomenon Now she feels life is a test To be different from the rest Learn a skill become the best But don’t forget to stay modest Be ambitious or your dream will

By Pallavi Verma The Remains of Us 3 :: You, Me and Math Sitting in a Room(Disclaimer: Math Experts, please be kind) I'm not good at Math, I divided our good moments with our bad ones and ended up with an indivisible number that led me on a merry chase, and no it was not a piece of pie We kept going in circles while I tried to look for different angles to see things from A-cute angle can turn into an obtuse one really fast I plotted the graph of you and me and ended up in a m

By Pallavi Verma I did not fall out of love with you, I climbed out of love with you I made a rope out of the endless plans we made and knots that we could never untie I threw it onto the surface hoping the girl I was and the girl I wanted to be held onto it It was bright when we first fell, we were in love. As things settled, we realised we were in a dark hole in the ground For a while, we dug deeper hoping if we worked together we could make it out but that only landed us b

By Pallavi Verma My heart hadn't responded to my messages for a while, so I decided to go check on it I know it's busy mending roads, writing lists, organising photo albums and looking for more band-aids but it could take outa time for an old friend So I slipped into town and saw the broken roads that started it throughout I saw my heart and my brain arguing over construction contracts while the hands of time sneakily mended the roads piece by piece I decided to take a trip i

By Pallavi Verma Hope is usually said to have wings, it flies way up above, enjoying the bigger picture and moving with the winds For the past year, days have been falling into each other like lovers reunited that don't want to be separated I can't tell one day apart from the other sometime I feel caught in a net, floundering, as the squares of the net mock me with their presence and strength in numbers There are days when waking up in the morning means waiting for the say to

By Pallavi Verma I saw a band-aid on the road and wondered if that meant my heart didn't need it anymore As the winds picked it up and it flew off, I checked my insides to see if they still hurt They did, but it was a fleeting pain. Pain not from remembering but the pain from trying to reopen that wound I remember when I got those wounds. You sat down in front of my heart as if about to feast A knife to strike, a fork to scratch the walls and a spoon to scoop out the hopes, d

By Pallavi Verma Where do we go when we visit the same memory at the same time? Do we travel back in time together? Do we transcend moments? Do we hide in the shadows as the young lovers laugh? Do we sit in our room and talk to the walls? Do we stand on opposite sides of a bookshelf looking at each other through the gaps as we take out books and remember It's sad and haunting how I only remember the good moments now. The bad ones have shattered and sprinkled over the good one

By Pallavi Verma I never realised that moving on and getting over someone are two very different concepts I don't know if there will ever be a time when I look at a sunset a sunrise or anything that gives me a sense of home and belonging, without thinking of you Now our home may not have been the best, it was in a dilapidated part of town, with vandalised walls, broken walls and unsteady foundations but you know what? It was a happy home. The smell of burnt food and takeout f

By Pallavi Verma When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, What will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here’s what she said to me.. Speech And she said to me: Pallavi, whatever you be.. Don’t. Be. Me. As my mother sat there on one chair out of four at the dining room table, peeling an orange. I wondered if the tears in her eyes were shooting stars that she was wishing upon, if so, what did she wish for? I wondered if she was looking for an orange that matched th

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa I remember that day clearly, It was a distinctly wordless day, When you erased me from your heart, Brushed past me without a sideways glance, To where I was standing all by myself, Unknowingly stepping forward to let myself Move past the magic that I thought was you; To let myself run into the land of promises That you handed to me by letting me go. If only you had stopped me; Spoken to me like your eyes always did; The way your smiles always danced the

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa Every now and then I have my eyes closed, And there your are, just out of reach yet within my world, A beautiful soul, a pure smile, eyes kinder than the Raining miracle on the plains of parched soil. And when my eyes are open, I see you again, but An imperfect soul, a rare smile, eyes determined yet Brimming with emotions uncharted, words unsaid, Just like the breathtaking clouds looming before a storm. So, there you were in my fantasy land and in mund

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa Seedlings of hope were planted, In the throes of love being more wanted. It was a day as gorgeous as many, Yet, it was remarkably different than any. I could see a flower bud playing peek-a-boo, With an adamant mind of its own. It saw the world, so astonishingly normal, To be on the side of the wrong and cruel. It saw the world, so desperately in unrest, To prove their hate, to scream their hearts. But time was flying, inseparable from lives; I could fe

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa It’s strange how, love transcends everything, How much we truly crave it  And how some of it is taken for granted  And how much of it is given out effortlessly  Into the abyss of the unknowns, maybes and the hollows of what-ifs... But we can’t, for the life of us, Shy away from that feeling, A strong pull, absolutely unconditional, Utterly uncontrolled, impossibly real; It doesn’t have to be consequential, Nor does it have to be established. It’s uncann

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa Ever thought about what could have been? The countless hours spent walking the same path... Thinking everything is stagnant, emotions on a standstill, The direction of our footsteps remaining unchanged, While seeing the seasons flash by in an uncalled for haste Flower petals, raindrops, autumn leaves, snowfall... Nothing ever hinted, that ... I missed a thousand versions of you walking past me, And oblivious to each other’s quests, we kept on going, Una

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa This yearning for another glimpse of you, That palpable wonder around your whereabouts, Is there another universe where our souls meet again? There wasn’t enough time in our hands this chance encounter  To acquaint ourselves with each others’ true selves,  To seek out the restlessness in our eyes, To comfort the earnestness in our minds... And our biggest fault was in trusting time, for, time was always in a hurry; In fact, time was sprinting, fleeing t

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa So, I know it has been a while; But be assured my love, that - I have let myself wander off into solitude, Only when my heart promised to never let you go. I know it has been a while; But I also know that there are others, Who can cherish the sweet sound of your laughter, And who will try to fathom the mystery that is your smile. I know it has been forever in my timeline, Since we saw each other balancing the art of life; But know that I am still journe

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa It was a random night, on a hopeless day. And engrossed in my daily chatter with Life, I realised, as individuals we will always be alone; But to survive this black and white magic of life, You will always end up falling back on someone(s) Who inspire(s) you endlessly; you will realise it’s not  Dependence that you feel when you look at them – But rather an untamed freedom felt from deep within; They become the freers of thoughts, and the applause  Behi

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa Here and there between the bitterness, Between the throes of momentary delights, Snaking through the crevices of chaos, They sneak up on you... Those feelings that shall not be named.. They insist to persist to be with you; Like the lover from that timeless romance novel, Loneliness craves all of you, so,  It is very easy to give in to the allure. Guising as a tempting fate, This pretence lures the hubris in you, Rendering you amiable to taste freedom,

By Syeda Farhat Lamisa Craters and hollows around dunes, You are imperfect in this vastness. But how is it that your flaws inspire so many tunes? I like to claim that I know why it is That I feel so much love for you. You might be a patchwork of blemishes, But once seen in your entirety, You are the embodiment of beauty; You are my celestial words of affirmation, You are proof that when loved wholly, Beauty is always seen where love resides. By Syeda Farhat Lamisa

By Amelia Sparkes They say following the sun is truly a journey of conviction— a steadfast walk, where warmth resides. To follow this ideal: that there is unwavering gratitude for consistency. Yet this path is never endless, a gentle reminder that illumination is only transient. That there will always be an inevitable counterpart— an absence to teach us endurance. A quiet acceptance of existence, where the two intertwine and show us a moment worth living. You see, the sun, th