Nostra Ossa
Hibah Shabkhez
A single blade of grass
Drifting upon the sea
Dreams of foam-leaf shadows
Dancing, and draws the best
Trees the thieved sand reports.
Ossa nostra plurima sunt, and my
Skin cannot hold them all;
So I dream its foam-forests sail to me.
The single blade of grass
Doomed to stand outside and beside
Love, a ghost that must hold inside
Chagrin, choke on perfect retorts,
Grows forests in the waves.
I steal random book-metaphors and try
To forge profound love-letters, all
Lies save those sent to fresh paper and bread.
A single blade of grass
Drifting upon the sea
Grows forests in the waves;
Plants a tree on each crest,
A sapling in each creux.
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Hibah Shabkhez is a writer of the half-yo literary tradition, an erratic language-learning enthusiast, and a happily eccentric blogger from Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has previously appeared in Rougarou, Backstory Journal, Porridge Magazine, Boats Against The Current, Samjoko Magazine, Five Minutes, and a number of other literary magazines. Studying life, languages, and literature from a comparative perspective across linguistic and cultural boundaries holds a particular fascination for her.
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/HibahShabkhez
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