like the sun, I erupt from my halo –
an angelic luminescence. my
nacreous shades like the skin
of a tender bubble outshine what
I had been in the past. from the
Hades, I soar up into the Oranos.
the floridity of the Rose Quartz
and bits of bottle-green shards –
the date-like boughs of my scars
from the past brag their beauty.
I cripple on the seams on my
almond skin and I retrieve my
gravity – the harder you attempt to
put me down, the higher I bounce up
I’m a Butyl rubber. Like eagles, I glide
above your toxic cumulonimbus
conglomeration. no matter how
many times Autumn comes,
Spring follows serenading my
heart, garlanding my thoughts,
and flowering seeds of hope in my soul.
no matter for how long the dark eclipse
stays, I shine like a flourescent gem.
no matter how much the new music
becomes popular, the antique melodies
are still the masterpieces. I sing
the ballads of love, the verve of true art
for art is where I dwell, for art is all
that flows from my pen.
Hafsa Mumtaz (she/her/hers), aged 22, is an emerging Muslim poet from Pakistan, and a graduate of English Language and Literature. Her poetry has been published in Visual Verse, The Rising Phoenix Review, Women’s Spiritual Poetry, The New Verse News, and Poetry Potion.