We see those empty bellied stares Through a screen. And we barely care. Dissociate, we separate, our emotions, abdicate. But take away our sustenance, The tempting calls of gluttonous, Taste the pangs of abstinence, To ignite the spirit of…

I want to fly ‘Why?’ He laughs To feel the wind on my face. He pushes me off the edge ‘Feel the wind on your way down.’ Down I go. Boom. Splat. Crash.   I want to sing ‘Why?’ He…

Female Muslims, supressed they say. Thoughts and voices kept at bay. Born to breed, must take heed. Brains in chains, Master reigns. Wives and mothers, fit for purpose. Conceal their strength, limit their wealth. Faith constrains, potential wanes. Feminism jailed,…

They disappear the girls, But it’s the men who blur, for me.   Whose father, did what, when, With whose aid, why – I care less   About them. And only about you. You remain. You and your name  …

A wave of generational tales flows through me My yoni, my body – a benchmark for every blow every one a stamp of ownership   tales of so many that weep through me That seep into pores confuse and remind…

Haunting mist cloaks the sky, songs of praise, eclectic bird cry, Dewdrops stake their rightful claim, on Nature’s early morning reign. I see, I feel, I love: The Creator of Creation.   Threadbare branches, anticipate, frond and fleur, lying in…

She shivers as more noise assails her, like blood splattering on a dirty wall. Moans and the sharp hiss of bullets. A large tank shakes the fragile walls. Did you know that the birds have stopped singing? In fact, most…

It’s a crazy world we live in. There’s a pinch of bad people With their own histories, Doing injustice, not owning it, Blaming their prey: You came in my way. We grow up blaming ourselves Hurting ourselves, just like they…

Heartbreak like this makes me yearn for comforts I never even had The urge to bask in my motherland’s South Asian sunshine and feel warm rainwater splashing down my back Elders calling me their child in Urdu, sending me to…

They call me bitch because I sleep with my dear man. They call me a slut for sleeping with a lover of people. I love, he loves. What more do you want?   They call me worthless because the man…

“Log kya kahenge?” (What will people say?)   A boy adorned in the colour pink; a girl rejecting the ‘feminine’ blueprint.   A woman fulfilling her own dreams and desires, before adhering to what tradition requires.   A man. Vulnerable….