The senescent strokes of
My pencil on a wan paper
Of my sketchbook
Cedes to the traces of
Moments I spent with
My eyes flashing like
Sequins bathing in moonlight.
Like velvet is the quill
Of an artist, like war paint
Is the ink flowing in it.
The flight of my imagination
Beckons me to dwell
On the twig of capriciousness
As I search for the eyes of
My soul in odd vistas
Of nature, of people, of animals,
Of past, of future.
Like a fragile feather, I
Vacillate back and forth
In time, in my life, and in my mind.
The greige haze of the sky
And the delicacy of my bond
With the skin warns me
Before I fall writhing
Into oblivion.
Hafsa Mumtaz, aged 22, is an emerging Muslim poet from Pakistan, with a bachelor in English Language and Literature. Her poetry has been published in Visual Verse, The Rising Phoenix Review, Women’s Spiritual Poetry, The New Verse News, Poetry Potion, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Terror House Magazine, and Ravi Magazine.