On the Eve of My 27th Birthday

by Anam Tariq

I try to keep myself busy

in weaving words with words,

Image credit: Caden Richards on Unsplash

making the pattern of a poem (my profession)

for unfamiliar people to peruse.

I am told to keep myself busy

to remain sane (sanity- an invaluable gift from Allah),

to live and die healthy.

I need to keep myself busy

and working (warily)

to keep myself away from

further losing my confidence and myself,

somewhere,

in the crowd of incoming thoughts

in the vacant store of my mind.

***

Anam Tariq writes from India. She is the author of the poetry collection, A Leaf upon a Book (Leadstart, 2022). Her poems nestle in The Punch Magazine, Lucky Jefferson, Last Leaves, SeaGlass Literary, Full House Literary, and elsewhere. Anam is a Pushcart Prize nominated poet. Find her at www.anamtariq.in or @anam.tariq_ (IG)