THUMBPRINTNE POETRY COLUMN
POETRY EDITOR ANANYA S GUHA'S COMMENTS:
Shaheen Akhtar’s poems are didactic in a lyrical manner. She has something to say about poetry, and poets, an universal concern for all poets. There is also consciousness of what is right and wrong
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Rains
Rain, you give me shelter from the scorching summer heat.
Kids play with you and paper boats,
and I find pleasure when you bring them joy.
Peace is when I hear you drip from trees overnight.
A melody, so soothing to the ears.
But no more peace!
You have been so relentless.
You keep me indoors all day long.
Neither can I beg,
nor can I ask for alms from the rich.
I have nothing to feed my family at the end of my day.
And my little ones sob,
in hunger and for shelter.
O’ Rain! I am a petty beggar.
All I can do is to beg of you.
My house floats now,
like the paper boats.
O’ Rain! Have pity on us.
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Poetry in Everything
There is poetry hidden
in the flight of a bird,
in the fall of a dry leaf,
in each droplet of rain.
There is poetry hidden
in an abandoned house,
in a rusted antique piece,
in a no man’s land.
There is poetry hidden
in the silence of a graveyard
and in the wildflowers over a grave.
There is poetry hidden
in the song of a nightingale,
in the holes of a flute.
There is poetry hidden
in pain, in loss, in love, in death and beyond
and in all things, seen and unseen.
There is poetry hidden
in the smiles of the homeless people
and in the eyes of the deprived.
There is poetry hidden
in the stories we live, in you and I,
in the reasons we exist, in why we die.
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A Love Note to Papa
I have lost you in this journey called ‘life’.
I wonder where you are now.
But I have faith in Him
and I know He is keeping you happy there.
And it’s never a lie,
that you are always by my side.
You may be invisible yet I can feel you in my soul.
Daughters are their fathers’ little angels.
That’s what the world says.
But the world never said that
fathers are their daughters’ angels too!
You are no less than an angel to me.
Your sickness made me write,
and your death made me a poet.
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The Madness in You
Passion is madness. It fuels your soul.
Passion is your inner urge. It keeps you going.
You can die for money but you live for your passion.
Passion is the fire, burning within.
It keeps you alive and is so full of life.
It is the one thing for which,
you are ready to risk everything.
Live life with passion.
Without it, a life is no life at all.
Without it, even a death goes wasted.
Only when you truly believe in something,
can you truly risk everything for it.
Only when you live for your passion,
will you know what lies beyond it.
Only when you stick to the inner madness in you,
will you discover what your purpose of life is.
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Nature
Nature yields, destroys and heals,
man will have to bow to her,
the harbingers of man’s future.
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It’s Just a Matter of Time
It’s just a matter of time until you realize,
that you were put to test by life from time to time.
It’s just a matter of time until you realize,
that the choices you have made were already destined.
It’s just a matter of time and you will realize,
that you never gave up
because you were meant to taste the reward of your perseverance.
It’s just a matter of time until you realize,
that you were always hopeful because you were meant to see
the sun rising after a night’s darkness.
It’s just a matter of time until you come to the realization,
that your life was all about connecting the dots
so you could eventually visualize the bigger picture of your life’s purpose.
It’s just a matter of time and you will surely see,
a reason and an answer to everything that happened the way it happened.
Let me tell you,
you and I are just travelers in this life’s journey.
And it’s just a matter of time until you realize,
that it is the timeless time that has always played its game,
where each of us have carried out our appointed roles
to fulfill destiny’s ultimate plan.
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Need of Poetry in Our Lives
A poet,
sees beauty in the ordinary,
dreams of peace amidst the chaos,
talks about pain, grief and loss,
expresses emotions and feelings, otherwise suppressed.
A poet,
observes and understands in silence,
finds a meaning to everything.
A poet,
dares to follow his heart,
not really affected by what the world has to say.
A poet,
rejoices the taste of reward that endurance in pain brings to him.
A poet,
sails across the seas of storms and sufferings,
to collect words of wisdom and comfort for the world to live by.
A poet,
is detached from the worldliness
and attached to one’s own self.
A poet’s bird’s eye view gifts us
a better understanding of the world we live in.
A poet finds his strength in mindfulness.
He seeks simplicity in living and craves for depth in his thinking.
A poet,
believes in truth seeking, in truth telling,
in unmasking the facades of the human race.
A poet,
pens tales of empathy and humanity, kindness and humility.
A poet envisions a world of harmony and equality.
A poet,
glorifies the Creator,
celebrates His wonder
and best translates the language of nature.
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ABOUT THE POET:
Shaheen Akhtar is a poet by destiny and passion, a writer, an author and a thinker. ‘Words from Dust’ (2022) is her debut book of poetry, published by WissenMonk. She writes for a cause. Her father’s sudden attack of a rare neuromuscular disorder followed by his unexpected demise caused her immense suffering and anxiety, eventually leading to the birth of a poet in her. Shaheen’s poems revolve around humanity, truth, nature, simple human emotions, life’s realities and mysticism. Humanity (2015) is her first published poem which appeared in the Northeast’s leading English Daily, The Assam Tribune. Six of her poems have appeared in the anthology titled The Book of 500 Best Poems – India’s Biggest Anthology, published by Swipe Pages (Chennai) in 2019. She is also deeply passionate about creating quotes out of life experiences, rightly learnt life lessons, observation, self-reflection and positive thinking. Besides contributing her poems, short stories and book reviews to the different reputed newspapers as The Assam Tribune, The Sentinel, The Assam Post etc and over the social media platforms since 2015, she actively participates in the various literary activities and has also judged different poetry recitation competitions. Apart from it, she also performs her poems at the different cafes, bookstores, international writer’s meet programmes, open mic events and private literary gatherings, in the city of Guwahati. Shaheen Akhtar is a recipient of the ‘Independence Day Literary Honor’ awarded by “Motivational Strips – World’s Most Active Writers Forum” jointly with the Gujarat Sahitya Academy (2021) with the title “owing to her brilliance in poetry which is considered to be at par with world standards”.
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