AYESHA F. HAMID

Anchors of Light

December 26, 2024

Traversing the path means traversing the dark.
Mist blinds but moonlight hue
brightens from dark to blue
showing outlines of cobblestone path
leading to uncertain destinations
stirring thoughts of hidden things.

But fear disperses as two lampposts appear
rising perfectly towards sky
irrefutable evidence of human ingenuity and mind
anchors of light
giving relief in midst of the lonely unknown.

Poetry is compressed to fit smart phone screens. If you are reading this poem on a phone screen, please turn your screen sideways to make sure that you are seeing correct line breaks for the poem.

Light

February 10, 2024

Resplendent light lifetimes ago when we all walked on the edge of knowing something, maybe even something about how the light links itself to infinity and everything it breaches. The energy and the air then was a perfect reflection of life’s easy breath and relaxed mind.

In older age, there’s another slant. Yes, light encapsulated, lifted, and energized, but its sharpness stung and hurt the eyes, and those days, weren’t they too bright? Though reaching for nothing but truth, we forgot that while alive, truth cannot exist without a modicum of lies.

Review of The Bus Ride by Richard D. Bank

August 2, 2023

Individuals are often forced into making impossible journeys requiring immense fortitude, strength, and sheer force of will. In Richard D. Bank’s novel, The Bus Ride, we find sixteen-year-old Lou Bank bravely taking part in this type of impossible journey. Racing against the clock, Lou must take a cross-country bus ride from Los-Angeles to Philadelphia to see his dying father one last time. During his journey to Philadelphia, Lou is faced with fear, uncertainty, and hunger but faces each obstacle bravely.

Lou Bank is the author’s father, and the fact that The Bus Ride is based on a true story makes it even more compelling. Filled with detailed and intricate world-building and exquisitely written prose, we are transported back to the early 1930s and witness the struggles and triumphs of the Bank family. As with other well-documented and skillfully written stories of the early 20^th century, this story will have you rooting for the victory of one of the members of the greatest generation.

The Bus Ride is also an ode to the immigrant experience. When you’re new to a nation as the Bank family was, your parents and sibling(s) will oftentimes be all that you have. The interdependence and love between members of the Bank family is heart-warming. As a first-generation immigrant, reading this book was a moving and meaningful experience.

Bank’s books, The Bus Ride, The Tree of Sorrow, and I Am Terezin are available through Auctus Publishers and can be purchased at www.barnesandnobles.com and other retailers where books are sold.

Winter Break, 2019

July 30, 2023

I drove towards the Poconos for one last task before break, which after it was done, would allow abandon. What a wonderful time and what a wonderful season that was – Right before the Covid 19 pandemic broke out and changed the course of world history.

With my last case visit before break completed, I started my journey home, thinking about how everything was in its place with my work, my parents, and my friends. Earlier that day, my boss told me she appreciated my hard work over the past year and that I deserved a great vacation.

Snow covered the surfaces of the parking lots and yards I passed. The little shops in that town looked like log cabins. Before getting onto the highway, I stopped into a local shop, The Pocono Cheesecake Factory, to pick up a cheesecake. My adopted, ninety-six-year-old grandmother and I, cheesecake connoisseurs, would taste test the cake several times over the next week before deciding that we liked our local Cheesecake Factory cheesecake better due to its softer texture.

My routine dental visit that week turned into a spontaneous but much-needed wisdom tooth extraction, which freed me of gum discomfort. Over break, I relaxed, ate soft foods (cheesecake), and spent time with those I couldn’t spend time with during a typical work week. I found and finished engaging television series like The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Haunting of Hill House, which both reaffirmed the important place in our lives of those we love.

We all get perfect moments in life, which allow us reprieve from life’s suffering, and 2019’s winter break was reprieve and bliss wrapped into one. That time was magical and its memories, and memories like it, have the power to dull any sadness that may come after.

Journey, 2023

February 15, 2023

Whether wise or not,
the journey must begin
within the wide world,
it’s shimmering cities
cold mountains and
across deep seas
by train, boat, or
plane to find anything
with which to forget
the loss and pain.

Poetry is compressed to fit smart phone screens. If you are reading this poem on a phone screen, please turn your screen sideways to make sure that you are seeing correct line breaks for the poem.

Why Write Anything When Everything’s Already Been Written? by Ayesha F. Hamid

September 7, 2022

Life’s nothing more than a burst of energy that flickers and then ends more quickly than can be comprehended, so writers must race against the demise of everything around them and take on the mission of trying to preserve what surrounds them. Writing is an act of conservation before oblivion.

I write with the realization that the movement of my life will progress so quickly that I won’t even count as one tick in the clock counting the totality of time. My body continues on the predictable path for which it was programmed, self-destruction. Like all else that is mortal, I will be gone without breath, words, or a trace of sound.

Logic dictates that everyone I have ever loved is also finite. Living now, I grasp at memories of those treasured, trying to save them in whatever way I can. Writing enables us to spell out the context that a photograph cannot capture, and this context is what defines life.

Just as I am able to sit in wonder while reading about the history and life of those long gone, I hope earnestly that years and even centuries from now, another might stumble upon my words and know who I was, who I loved, and what it meant for me to be part of the living world: In this possibility, there is some sense and reprieve in what was always meant to be a losing battle.

Demolition in the Tropics by Rogan Kelly: A Review by Ayesha F. Hamid

May 30, 2022

Rogan Kelly’s Demolition in the Tropics is a magnificent read – Within the book’s pages, one finds a world of love, gratitude, and beauty. Kelly observes subjects closely and with care. Rich in unique associations and original descriptions, Kelly’s prose poems show us the beauty in the everyday. Whether he describes stopping in at a diner for breakfast or completing his tasks for a job, the poet successfully encapsulates worlds within paragraphs. Though he is good at describing everyday events, Kelly’s work is anything but mundane. His poems are complex and evocative, and a superficial read will not be sufficient to understand the depth of the work. Upon close examination, the reader understands that although Kelly may be describing what appears to be ordinary, he understands that everyday moments simultaneously contain a multitude of possibility as well as nothingness. While being fully immersed in the text, the reader learns to appreciate the beauty in Kelly’s poems, but with poignant turns, Kelly cautions against trying to possess what is ephemeral.

Whether it is the wonder of a far away city like Alexandria, Egypt or the perfection of another person, Kelly examines the subject matter in his poems with a reverence that often eludes contemporary art, reminding the reader of greats like Dante or Petrach. Reading Demolition in the Tropics teaches us that wonder, love, and beauty surround us at all times if we only take the time to observe. At the same time, we are reminded that change is the only constant, which is why we must appreciate every moment. As a poet and reader, I highly recommend Demolition in the Tropics. It is a great study in writing, poetry, as well as the specific form of prose poetry. Demolition in the Tropics is available now through Seven Kitchen’s Press.

Heart Play

July 6, 2021

Ran Off With the Star Bassoon

I started building the foundation of a new literary journal website in January. It was burning a hole in my brain and I had to see some aspect of it realized. Still, I avoided buying the .com or paying for the space. I wasn’t ready to move on it. Mostly, I just knew the work that went into publishing The Night Heron Barks and wasn’t sure I could run both. I made notes on typesets I possibly liked — fiddled with the header, and knew what I wanted to call us.

As the months went by, the idea of the thing continued to gnaw at me. I’ve learned so much in the last year about editing and design and promotion. I wanted to make room for a second project.

Rose: Do you love him, Loretta?
Loretta: Ma, I love him awful.
Rose: Oh, God, that’s too bad.
Lines from John…

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Now with added…Flair!: The Pirate Costume

June 6, 2020

Melanie Atherton Allen discusses the intersection of creativity and costume making. See Melanie in her amazing costumes.

Fiction Can Be Fun

There are several ways in which Debs and I meet new writer-friends, one being through the shared experiences of the April A2Z Challenge. Our reading interests overlap a great deal, as you might expect, and we share a great deal of admiration for this month’s guest, Melanie Atherton Allen. Melanie has an amazing imagination, and the way in which she is able to produce coherent bodies of work from multiple perspectives is a joy to behold. There is a temptation to compare some of her work to…well, I won’t say, because that would be to do Melanie a disservice. She is herself, and you should check out her ‘blaugh’ for yourself. But now, over to Melanie!

The Doctor Thank you, David and Debs, for inviting me to do this! It has been a surprisingly difficult piece to write (because I am usually a 100% fiction kind of gal, and I’m actually not…

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Understanding the Why of Actions: Curtis Smith Interviews Ayesha F. Hamid

May 29, 2020

Please check out my interview with Curtis Smith

Small Press Reviews

100879941_678076676306203_5147643859034963968_n Ayesha F. Hamid is a poet and creative nonfiction writer, published in Big Easy Review, Philly Flash Inferno, and Rathalla Review. Her full-length memoir, The Borderland Between Worlds, is available through Auctus Publishers at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, and Target. Ayesha also has a full-length poetry collection called Waiting for Resurrection. Ayesha holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in Publishing from Rosemont College. She also holds an M.A. in Sociology from Brooklyn College. She is the Editor-in-Chief at The City Key. Aside from writing, Ayesha also loves travel and photography.

Curtis Smith: Congratulations on The Borderland Between Worlds. I’m always interested in a book’s journey, especially with an independent press. Can you tell us about your experience?

Ayesha F. Hamid: During my first year at Rosemont’s Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, I took my…

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