Essays
Poetry on Drums
by Muneeb Ilyas
Issue Four – Spring 2025
Dizzy with excitement and fear, I sat cross-legged and nervous in the Gol room, scrutinized by Ustaad. With ragas playing in accord in ways not familiar to me, I finally saw how poetry danced to rhythm.
Jun Kazama in Lahore
by Rana Saadullah Khan
Issue Four – Spring 2025
Next to Joyland’s ferris wheel, a small, whitewashed building once housed an arcade. Within it must have been several shooters – some involving zombies, many robbers in a bank – and there certainly were more than a few racers, perhaps even two air hockey boards. But on one end of the room, there was a Tekken machine…
Notes on Clifton, Block 2
by Eman Farhan
Issue Three – Autumn 2024
Tonight, a pack of dogs is howling at the moon. This neighborhood is teeming with them; every corner you turn, you’ll see a dog standing there. Beautiful, brown and black fur with white spots. Noses that are always wet. Their eyes all look like my brother’s.
The Streets Are Not for Me
by Sundus Saqib
Issue Three – Autumn 2024
I didn’t know where I was going; it wasn’t a planned liberation. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes, I halted in front of a small park. It was midafternoon and the park was completely deserted, as were the roads. The choking summer heat had forced everyone inside while it had compelled me to do the opposite.
Ports
by Bassam Sidiki
Issue Two – Spring 2024
On the day of my diagnosis in Kalamazoo, they whisked me away from my mother’s unrelenting hands on a wheelchair, even though I felt perfectly capable of walking.
After Winter
by Samee Ahmad
Issue Two – Spring 2024
When I was a child, he delivered a solemn sermon at the blue tiled mosque every week. Later, we piled into the car, we picked up his friends and drove to Shah Jamal.
The Money Plant
by Tabinda Khurshid
Issue One – Autumn 2023
It has been more than 15 years now that I have been living on my own. One particular plant that has been recommended to me multiple times is the Epipremnum aureum, more commonly known as Pothos or Devil’s Ivy.
The Road to Closure
by Roha Arif
Issue One – Autumn 2023
I remember my attention zeroing in on my thumbs and feeling relief. I loved that they were more square than round on the edge, and my siblings usually teased me about that