Aisha Faruqui

67°26’24.54”N, 111°43’35.35”E

FINDING PHOENIX

Mountains, mountains everywhere! I cannot bear to see them there! I miss the plains and open space, The pale, white heads of Queen Anne’s lace.

I am a hunter, known by the name Fawkes, And I’m precariously perching on some sparkling rocks. I don’t know how I got here, or how I will leave, But this treeless place is enough to make me grieve.

Though there is water here, it doesn’t look clean to me, It runs down the mountain carrying dirt and debris. It splashes and crashes into rocks every day, And it ends up in a valley, a day’s journey away.

This place is bare as bones, So lifeless, just a pile of stones. And here’s another thing to bear in mind, There is no food of any kind!

I’m starting to panic! What will I do?

It’s unlikely I’ll survive, oh, boo hoo! There’s no one to talk to in this forbidden place! Okay Fawkes, keep your cool, put on your straight face.

Looking for prey, or a clean water supply. What is that speckled dot I see over there Sitting on volcanic rocks, amidst the frigid air?

I dove towards the dot to see if it’s edible, But when I took a closer look, I saw something incredible!

It’s not edible, it’s another me! Thank goodness that somebody answered my plea!

“Hello,” I hollered, “Are you lost too?”

“Yes,” he murmured, “But I’ll have to make do...”

“No you don’t, we can escape together, Fly with me, and we’ll get through all kinds of weather!”

“Ok!” he said, and just like that, We left together, and we never looked back.

You can take on the world when your friend is beside you, You can escape perilous mountains if your friend’s there to guide you.

“Hey,” I shouted, “I never got your name!”

“Oh,” he replied, “It’s Phoenix.”

His name echoed off the mountains that day. I will never again think of him the same way.

Mikail Malik

24.8508° N, 67.0181° E

The dust awakens through the mist of the sky

A city erupts from the deep Angry but with spirit

The rich shrug the poor

To one faithful eternity

The Modest reach forward

Power is being abandoned

Protestors run through the streets

The love of one country is to be evaluated

As the children believe in the city with heart drag them away

But the parents

The people are Many keep on digging

It may take centuries not to be found south, east, and west

The missing puzzle is It may be north, But nothing is found….