Hibah Shabkhez
Daemons of Langues Étrangéres
The crimsoning cloud in its lead-blue quilt
Turns grinning from the gnarled stone hand outspread
For daisy-dishes from its furrows spilt
Musing schemes to win fresh sounds to a head
Soaked hoary in the sounds of one seule langue
It drifts on, eternal wandering shred
Of violin langue-daemons in shushed song,
Preaching verbs to strings freshly foreign-gilt
That upon the tongue like apricots throng
Hibah Shabkhez is a writer of the half-yo literary tradition, an erratic language-learning enthusiast, a teacher of French as a foreign language and a happily eccentric blogger from Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has previously appeared in The Mojave Heart Review, Third Wednesday, Brine, and a number of other literary magazines. Studying life, languages and literature from a comparative perspective across linguistic and cultural boundaries holds a particular fascination for her.
Malasaña | Hudson, NY| Cargo Collective | Portland, ME | 2021