Separation Eulogy
Dua of Light
At first there was nothing, then Allah said
Be–and so it was! It started like this:
crisp rays of sunlight, sweet winds
dancing and the smallest buds of life
easing into existence. Mounds of clay
forming shapes like beautiful paintings,
giant mountains overlooking the snow.
Here, we created new spirits, sowing seeds
in the soft earth-mud that sprouted into
juniper trees and fragments of dreams.
Kun faya kun–the wet rivers singing
like they knew the songs by heart,
mothers bearing children, birds making
nests with sticks of spider silk.
O Allah, grant me the warmth of a soul
pierced by you, let me Be always
quiet and grateful, I want life for the
rest of my life. Yes, I will be foolish and
screaming, flinging my heart into the
tall grass of the years. I will know the sun,
urged into madness by its amber glow.
Verily, infuse me with your abundance,
wide and undeniable like a prayer whispered.
X is where your light enters my wound.
You, a stronghold. See, I am plucking wild
zinnias for you with trembling hands.
Vaneeza Sohail is a poet and writer from Karachi, Pakistan. Her poems have appeared in Arzu Anthology and Wildness Journal, and she was shortlisted for the 2024 Zeenat Haroon Rashid Writing Prize for Women. She posts long-form personal essays on her Substack.