I. BIRTH OF A WOMAN

Oh so you were looking for a baby mama

Blue mountains from my aunt’s bungalow, her womb swollen from having had “only a daughter”

The dog still weeps on the dusty path—dust red like my grandma’s glasses

The Caribbean swallowed Kingston but cannot digest it because we are all still screaming there

Just W O M E N just W O M E N

i was a(u)n pulled trigger on your gun

you were too indifferent to shoot and too obsessed to simply let me run

so we hang on, half-there, half-gone

I spend hours waving goodbye.

It hurts, doesn't it?

The goodbye that breaks my fingers and my heart.

I wave 'bye' to every last person I've ever dated...

The stars gaze back, but there's no way for me to greet them.

The cat who edits what isn't loved is motivated

by its own greed for the spotlight.

It's been asleep, dreaming of the red pen

it'd paw at when it heard a new poem in the hall.

I shall be a child.

I shall rush through things.

I shall be foolish about things.

—Until I do not know myself.

Saira Anwar is an educator, poet, author, content creator, and spoken word artist. She published her first poetry collection The Death of a Beautiful Dream in January 2014, which was featured on Amazon’s Top 20 Bestsellers list.

We were honoured to speak with Saira in anticipation of the launch of her second poetry collection, Rising From Despair: A Journey to Hope, the long-awaited sequel to her first collection and 10 years in the making.

Willow Martin is a poet and author based in Cornwall, UK. Her work explores themes of emotional healing and personal growth, offering a reflective and nurturing perspective on the journey of transformation.

We were honoured to speak with Willow following the launch of her debut poetry collection, To Be Seen: The Bloom and the Roots, to discuss her journey as a writer, her process of emotional healing and self-discovery, and her advice for up-and-coming poets.

We were honoured to interview Serena about her second poetry collection 'Tea for the Wicked’, discussing her writing process, her healing journey through poetry, the challenges she faced during the process and advice for new poets.