The Wardrobe's Best Dressed: Othered by Seher Hashmi

This selection, chosen by guest editor Kirsten Kowalewski, is from Othered by Seher Hashmi (Sanjh Publications 2021).

Fistful of Fireflies

Those stifling summer nights
When grown-ups grumbled and panted 
Panted and cursed 
Government, politician
In turns 
"Have mercy Almighty!
Let raindrops fall
Let here be some light"
Huffs and puffs shuffled on lips 
Temples throbbed like 
Boiled egg in simmering water
Lemonade washed down, clammy necks
In pitch black darkness 
Of power outage
Us, giggling girls 
In sweaty sandals
Chased after
Sparkly sprites fluttering above 
Across, around and all over

Note: Copies of Othered may be purchased from Sanjh Publications Pakistan. As very small press, they don’t have a website; orders can be placed via WhatsApp at +92-331-4686276.

seher hashmi is an expat poet/ satirist/ spoken word artist/ podcaster of Pakistani origin based in Bahrain. Two of her poetry collections called Othered & Nots hit shelves in the first quarter of the new millennium in 2021 and 2024 respectively. Her debut Othered won her the Daud Kamal Award for the best book of poetry 2021 from the Pakistan Academy of Letters. Her poems have been aired by The Poetry Place and are featured in The Poet, The Sunflower Collective, Tint Journal, etc. She has also founded a podcast for authors and poets called The Bookend.

Kirsten Kowalewski is a former school Librarian, occasional beta reader, book reviewer, and editor for Monster Librarian, an online review resource for horror and dark fiction.