Anam Tariq
Sisterhood
The sun supports the moon with its light
making it shine bright
without stepping into its limelight.
The stars accompany the lonely luna
to whose melody dance the earth and tuna:
coexisting celestial bodies in the lacuna.
If we could inject this phenomenon
into ourselves and push down heads none
be the cheering hands or give a leg up to someone
such that all bodies glitter, over the earth’s floor dispersed
like the coexisting celestial bodies making for an admirable universe:
a societal sisterhood, to be terse.
​
Note: Since ‘lacuna’ loosely means space, in this poem it refers to outer space.​
A Thing with Feathers
It is a thing with feathers (as Dickinson said),
light on the heart,
flies to others, contagious as a smile.
It’s an expectation of help from Allah,
is the faith in Allah.
A rigid tree that refuses to sag,
nucleus of the structure called life.
It is sweeter than mangoes,
more energising than medication,
balm on every injury.
It is a road sign consoling:
sunny days ahead Insha Allah,
is a breeze embracing the face
and sunlight embellishing the dress.
It is a letter of a poet,
a change of governments,
a resistance for the better
and an optimist’s default choice.
Note: ‘Insha Allah’ is an Arabic word meaning ‘if Allah wills.’
Anam Tariq writes from India. She is the author of the poetry collection A Leaf upon a Book (Leadstart, 2022). Her poems nestle in The Punch Magazine, The Chakkar, Lucky Jefferson, Last Leaves, Free Verse Revolution, and elsewhere. Anam won the Verse of Silence Poetry Contest 2023, was a finalist in Lucky Jefferson's Poetry and Prose Contest 2023, and was longlisted for the Glass House Poetry Award 2024. Find her at www.anamtariq.in or @anam.tariq_ (IG).