Aaliya explores the fragile yet resilient nature of hope through an evocative poem on DifferentTruths.com.
Hope is a feeble tickle of a newborn baby
with her dewy edible fingers on your neck!
Even after you have had her thrice in your womb
But never yet playing in your cradle!
It is ambitious too sometimes,
In believing people over an assertive word
over a brazen act or a few convenient lies,
that roar too loudly against itself.
Hope is faith anchored in the skies.
with no tangible ropes; else, whispered threads,
that only uphold your commitment to life
despite overwhelming misery!
Picture design by Anumita Roy
Dr Aaliya Mushtaq Baba, PhD (Department of English, University of Kashmir), navigates the intersections of politics, philosophy, and autobiographical writing. She has been engaged in literary academia across three universities in the region for over six years. An accomplished poet, her work has appeared in Miraas, Sheeraza, Kashmir Lit, English Studies in India, and Setu (Pittsburgh, USA). Her poetry also finds a place in The Kali Project: Invoking the Goddess Within/Indian Women’s Voices and Love and Longing: An International Anthology of Poems. With the recent release of her debut collection, Ode to Silence, her poetic voice continues to resonate through literary landscapes.
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