Summer

By Ayesha Iqbal Quddusi

Nascent leaves

And old trees

Silent and somber

In the summer breeze

Sunflowers crowded with honeybees

Like a mind covered with memories

Of the usual

And other times

The blood red horizon

The sinking sun

Set ablaze

Like a heart drowning in love

All across travels

Scent of jasmine as time entangles

Celestial mysteries

That the night sky unravels

Dew drops on grass blades

As twilight fades

Tear drops for memories

Of the gone by days

And time and again

Come the same

Warm and humid

Days to blame

Moths fly

And the nights go by

Summer seems to never end

But the time passes by

Stands Second

The Heart of a Writer

By Maheen Pasha

My pen in my hand,

an empty page before me,

the fences lay exhausted,

the walls give in.     

And then, in a moment,

through a slit in the door,

a memory, a long forgotten thought,

struggles to come out.

And I, instead of pushing it back,

let it take over, and become,

the force in my hands,

the ink in my pen,

the blood in my veins,

and in the narrow lanes,

of the city in my heart,

a child looks up, smiles,

and disappears into the dark alley.

And I see the sun rays,

striving to reach the old woman’s house.

None of this is grief, no.

Rather it all reflects hope.

So I return, reconstructing the walls,

because my world is not for the world to see.

The heart of a writer is not the place to be.

Stands Third

Frayed Beauty

By Daniyal Asif

The heat - unbearable deceit

The Sun awoke, Time has come

The Moon rose with dignity

Lost travelers, deserted hearts

All of them forgotten - one by one

Everyone speaking in a different dialect

Stranger to the happiness of lost sorrow

Salient features of rhymes

The sorrow and woes, lost in times

The tears of autumn, there are none

For the time of spring has come

And so that’s the era of a new spring

Cursed, versed into a new beginning

That bleeding edge of a summer sun

The rivals of past left in desolation

The heat - severely underestimated

The sun awoke with a burning crime

Like it has never been before stuck in time

Us Poetry Competition

It was heartening to see such an overwhelming response to the call for participating in the Us Poetry Competition. We sure had a tough time shortlisting poems out of over a hundred that we received! Most of the contributions were very good and shortlisting out of those was a daunting task in itself. About thirty to thirty-five poems were shortlisted by Us and forwarded to our judges, who further selected the three best ones. It was not easy for them either!

A little intro to our judges: Both Lubna Hasan and Faisal Nazir teach literature at the Department of English, University of Karachi. Hasan herself is a creative writer and has an exceptional command over the works of John Keats – her area of research. Nazir is currently pursuing his PhD and has a profound critical understanding of Pakistani Literature produced in English. We are thankful to them for sparing time for Us Poetry Competition.  

All the shortlisted poems are publishable, and will be published in the upcoming issues of the Us Magazine as a reward for all those who made an effort to participate in this competition, and actually made it a success. Honestly, I was not expecting that our inbox would be flooded with so many ‘good’ contributions. Thank you all for proving me wrong, and giving me hope that we can make this competition an annual event. Congratulations to the winners! And to all the participants: keep writing because it is you who keep Us going!

Best,

- NA