Sadness is a Sin

by Javeria Hasnain

You see a bird and it sees you back.

A squirrel looks at you in awe as you do not share with her your strawberry.

A woman screams & screams & screams.

یہ تمنا ہے کہ آزاد تمنا ہی رہوں

The desire is to remain desireless.

If my life was the size of my arm, I would stretch it out for you.

If my arm was the size of my heart, I would cut it out for you.

Tininess lives in me.

Tininess is a sin too.

Isn’t it crazy that you meet someone & they have already lived a life.

I have lived so many lies.

I thought poetry could help me speak the truth.

How childlike of me.

No child likes me.

I like everyone,

especially when I’m drunk.

Javeria Hasnain is a Pakistani poet and a Fulbright scholar in the MFA program at The New School, NY. Her poems have been published/are forthcoming in Poet Lore, beestung, The Margins, and elsewhere. She was a finalist for the 2022 The Bird in Your Hand prize and has been nominated for Best Microfiction 2023. She currently works at Cave Canem Foundation.