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Not for me
the laurel
I don't qualify
at all-
simple poetry
I write only
as my muses call

masters
of the past
each at
their sublimest
that I recall

they are
the light
I'm just
the shadow
far, far away
from their poetic hall

yet, driven
by steps
large or small

up the writing wall
I must climb
my heart's desire
to fulfil
ere
my life's nightfall
 Jun 7 Zahra Ali
Karen
Gentle was his touch
Silken breeze upon the heart
Whispers of true love
Haiku
 Jun 6 Zahra Ali
LL
tell me where, tell me
when
I can find happiness —
so I can go there
2025/092
Don't regard
me a poet
I'm not
perhaps never
to qualify
as one-
a solemn truth

still swimming
in the sea
of words
often struggling
to keep
my head
above water
to escape
drowning

so
don't call
me a poet
I'm only still
a weaver
of sentiments
a learner
from the Masters
a lone traveller
in the desert
in search
of self
to place
myself
right in
fitting words

yet
I despair not:
it's enough
to have
into such
ventured
Your best contribution
of the day-
when you don't stand
in someone's way
 May 20 Zahra Ali
Ali Hassan
Upon the checkered battlefield she stands,
A sovereign forged by mighty hands.
She moves through fire, wind, and air,
Where king would tremble, she would dare.

The king? He takes but one slow pace,
Yet all the world must guard his place.
She sweeps the board to shield his name,
While he remains a throne, a frame.

She leaps through lines, across the night,
Her strength is feared, her aim is right.
But when she falls oh, silent doom!
A pawn may rise to fill her room.

No grand crown mourned, no songs are sung,
Her courage known but seldom rung.
A lesser piece takes her fading light,
As if her power held no right.

She bled for him, and when she’s gone,
Another stands as if nothing’s wrong.
But if the king should fall in fight,
No pawn can rise to claim his right.

Why must the Queen be thrown aside,
While weaker soul enjoy the ride?
Why can the game not truth confess
That all revolves around her finesse?

So let the rules be drawn anew:
The Queen shall rise as sovereign true.
If she must fall, the crown shall end
No pawn pretend, no false ascend.

The king, if brave, must prove his might,
Or lose the board to equal right.
No longer will her death be cheap,
No longer will her silence keep.

This is the Queen’s game sharp and wise,
No longer masked in king’s disguise.
Let Queen be Queen in full command,
No shadow bound to his demand.

Let every move her story tell:
She ruled the board. She ruled it well.
And now, at last, the game replays
With justice ruled by Queen’s own ways.
Youth:           Everything is possible

Middle-age:  Some things are intractable

Old age:        Many things before me are indiscoverable
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