Hibah Shabkhez is a writer of the half-yo literary tradition, an erratic language-learning enthusiast, and a happily eccentric photographer from Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has previously appeared in Pleiades, Miracle Monocle, Glassworks, Windsor Review, Moria, CommuterLit, 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. Find her on X @hibahshabkhez and on Instagram @shabkhez_hibah.
Poetry
Zinfandel Grapes
Scrunch-faced, she flung you a strange concoction
Of play-dough, paint and beads, tossing her head
With swagger belied by hands in motion
Already to ward off a blow. You said,
Looking only at the bead-studded shapes