POEMS ---------------------------------------------------------------- Title: It's Not 1947 Anymore Poet: Nida Shah Poet Intro: Nida Shah is an aspiring poet based in Lahore. She is a lecturer of English at Government College University, Lahore. She teaches courses in Romantic and Modern Poetry, and Modern Novel. She is currently working as the co-advisor of RAVI (annual literary magazine GCU). She is also a member of GCU Press. Her area of research is Great War Poetry and Afro-American Fiction.…

Dawn to dusk, she hid Herself with a dark lid Of a cheerful mask Not an easy task When the innards screamed Of freedom, it dreamed Afraid of unfettering The fear of chattering That rebuked any difference Instant interference Conform, conform! Or be labelled thus Social pariah, oozing pus. Eat, sleep, defecate, fornicate Added bonus, pontificate But keep to the line Be a creeper, a beautiful vine And everything will be fine! But this can’t be all? What about the soul? Well, what about it? Just ch…

The alarm sets off the day Responses on auto pilot The drudgery of daily routines The white noise of words, gestures, postures, acts. One day slips into the other In seamless motion, no jarring stress Tick-tock, tick-tock, chimes the daily clock Surface, a limpid pool of steady calm Inside the mind, the ghostly self pushes itself up on its haunches And launches off a silent scream The ripples of that sound Ricochet off the walls Bouncing off with sharp jabs of something like pain. Smilingly, han…