photography – Sunra Rainz

_{Time Suspended-, gel pen & biro on paper, 2022, © N Nazir 2023, Sketchbooks 2022}
_{(Text source: A Primer for Poets & Readers of Poetry by Gregory Orr, p.104)}

I, sleepless,
feel the ripening swell
of unrest.

Is it loneliness?
or am I shifting again

I meant to share this earlier. I had an unexpected publication with Ink Sweat and Tears last month with my word + image poem Time Suspended-. I’d submitted it months ago so to get an acceptance quite out of the blue, and on Eid too, was a pleasant surprise. Especially when it’s an erasure piece as not many journals publish those. Hope you like it.

I started doodling this during an overly long zoom meeting last year, the host of which probably thought I was earnestly making notes. Not so. I was poeming the whole time. It’s the little things in life, isn’t it?

*Unrelated but what sad news about the powerhouse that was the inimitable Tina Turner. I know this isn’t one of her songs but I had trouble picking one to share, and I love her performance here with Robert Palmer. RIP Tina ❤