They say you are born in the times in which you are meant to evolve, and, while that may be true, evolution is neither easy nor something any one can confidently hold in the palm of their hands and claim as their own. This collection of free verse poems, inspired by the many diverse challenges and varied experiences faced, over the course of the past four years, in the two vastly different worlds of Lahore, Pakistan and Sydney, Australia, wishes to make no such evolutionary claims. It has, however, evolved out of a need to pause, process and make sense of some of what a day or night, a face or a place, a thought or an emotion, brings to the one who stops to observe it. Sometimes it makes sense and at others it doesn’t, and this collection acknowledges the coexistence of both in any given moment. And so, if you are looking for answers and clarifications in the hope of cracking the code, keep reading, for you’ll notice, so am I.
REVIEWS
- Meg Mosier, English Language Arts teacher, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred heart, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
It has been lovely to spend time with Sadaf’s poetry over this past week. I have added one, that was more accessible to our middle school readers, to our Poetry packet for future years . Her poem ‘The Prism’ made me feel the same comfort conversations with my father have brought me over the years. He has a way of helping me see myself – and my worries – on a universal scale. The lines, “The effort of a million trees/ Standing tall/ Since forever to sustain me” creates a clear image in my mind’s eye and steadiness in my soul. Thank you for sharing this collection with me.
18th January, 2022.
- Clive Roger Barnes, Principal, IB World School, TNS Beaconhouse, Lahore, Pakistan.
As I browse through and look at some of Sadaf’s verses in depth, I find some very close affinity with our situation as peripatetics. Most especially though, I found both stimulus, solace and happiness in a number of the poems. Her style is freeform for the most but the imagery trips along nicely and even profoundly at times. She takes life and what it offers both good, sad and bad on the chin and there is always a strong element of hope and persistence that life is worth living. Her deft and poignant use of words and rhyme and the shape and paucity of the shape of her poems is so refreshing and personal and so very telling.
3rd February 2022