January 2019

Poem

We asked Rizwana to write a poem based on our themes for the 2019 event. We liked the poem so much, that we also asked her to read it from our stage.

Rizwana delivers her poem from our stage. Photo by Stefan Nitzsche.

Rizwana creates visual poems; the visible structure is fundamental to the way we connect to the words. This is why on wider screens we're presenting the text as two halves, one aligned left, the other right, as Riz intended.

Poem by Rizwana Khan

i’ve wondered
these past few days
piecing
together
the meaning
of uncertainty meet re-
-discovery;
an
eleven lettered
adventure that i
have packed
my bags
for;

you see, at 13, i sat on our
family rusty computer
chair and drew
a pumpkin.

a pumpkin so
seriously funky, it had
hair, the color
lime green.

(Illustrator
is a land too foreign
to a kid who’s
flown all the way
from the familiar
Shaky Brush District of
Paint..)


pleased having
made the perfect
piece of pumpkin
art, i remember

printing it, followed
by the obvious task
of coloring in the
background,
a bright
highlighter
blue, because
my Illustrator’s
paint bucket
acted

funny.

Now at 20,
i’m left to ponder

how is it we
wandered away from




the wonder?


Contributor

Rizwana Khan

Rizwana Khan is a designer, developer, student and poet. As a third culture kid, she is found in awe of the things we can learn from our differences. Also, Riz cannot whistle, but is convinced she will, one day.

Publication

This article was commissioned for our January 2019 magazine. Like it? View all articles, grab our RSS feed, and subscribe to our newsletter.