Inverse Journal

Poetry

MUSIC FEATURE: A Song by Kristina Jacobsen Inspired by Ather Zia's Poem "i. will. cross." + Exclusive Interview with the Two Professors

In a rare and unprecedented instance, two professors from two different cultures meet at the crossroads of verse and song to produce a creative collaboration around the themes of Indigeneity, marginality, war, colonization, and erasure. The result is an adaptation of Professor Ather Zia’s poem “i. w

We cross the Red Sea every day — Two Poems by Miran Gulzar

Miran Gulzar presents two poems that counterpose erasure, grief and loss with faith, memory and remembrance. In the first poem, snow offers a momentary lapse that shrouds grief and reconciles it with loss, while finally placing a funerary drape over the world of "the unburied." “Religious allusions”

Children of the Silent God — A Poem by Khurram Muraad Siddiquie

Khurram Muraad Siddiquie presents verses that reflect on a type of abandonment enshrined in centuries of solitude.

The world had loosened its tie — Two Poems by Glen Armstrong

Glen Armstrong presents two disquieting poems that move from the space of a family home into the pits of war.

I Am a Temple of Worship With Trinket Dreams — Two Poems by Michael Lee Johnson

Michael Lee Johnson presents two poems, one that reflects on the lives of poets and the other on the passage of time as life goes on. Such verses emerge from a poetic voice that has seen joy and grief, youth and age, vulnerability and persistence, in ways that only time can make known.

Being There — A Poem by Mubashir Karim

As the first month of this year comes to a close, we publish a poem by Mubashir Karim about the year that went by. Such verses are rooted in hope that is grounded and poised.

All This Helplessness, Heaped Over Us Like a Blanket — Three Poems by Saadia Peerzada

Saadia Peerzada presents three poems that are woven together by solitude, transience and momentary reflection. Verses such as these elucidate how poetry can emanate from quotidian situations, from a visit to a grocery store to a moment of transit, to a moment of introspection before heading to class