Sidra F. Sheikh
The following poem was first published The Aleph Review, Vol. 5 (2021).
No one likes women who think too much
He said
So, I gave him a piece of my mind
The Beast took it, saying you are too kind
But as evening fell
He was back again
No one likes women who talk too much
He said
So, I gave him a piece of my tongue
The Beast ate it and asked for the rest
Come back another day
I said
Apparently, tongues are hard to digest
It didn’t take him long
No one likes women who are too strong
He said
So, I gave him my right arm
The Beast broke it and smiled
Charmed, there is one on the left as well
Could you be a dear and save me a trip?
So, I obliged
And while you’re at it, I’ll have the rest of that tongue, shall I?
It was the least I could do, such pretty manners and a bearing so wise
I gave him what was left, and he said goodbye
Soon he returned
No one likes women who stand up for themselves
He said
So, I gave him a leg but he sat back down, waiting for more
Take what you will, I told him at last
The Beast took the other and headed for the door
One last time I have come, do not deny me
No one likes women who feel too much
He said
So, I ripped out my heart
And handed it right over
The Beast devoured it, purring and prancing with delight
No one likes you
You have arrived
The ideal woman
Except for your eyes
If I could just take away this burden of sight
You would be born again
A woman done right
You could hold your head high
Be proud of who you are
And tell Everyone
No one approves
No one was an ally I wanted on my side
Everyone had let me down enough
Everyone was false, but No one I could trust
I gave him my sight and feeling generous, offered up my hearing as well
But he didn’t have any use for my ears
I should keep them
He said
I rejoiced in my good fortune a while
I couldn’t walk or speak or smile
But I was happy, I was liked
The Beast told me I was
I couldn’t think either you see
But he wasn’t entirely unfeeling or cold
He left me my ears
So I could listen and do as I was told.
Sidra F. Sheikh is the author of The Light Blue Jumper, published in 2017 by Mongrel Books, Karachi. It continues to be on the bestseller list at Liberty Books and is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US as a Kindle version. She has recently completed a sequel to the Jumper and a new YA fantasy novel. Sidra has a BSc in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and is a partner at The Sheikh Partnership law firm, a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales and an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.*
*Author bios of archival pieces are reprinted as they first appeared.
Zainab Zulfiqar received their BFA (2021) from the National College of Arts in traditional South Asian miniature painting with a distinction, as well as a merit scholarship in 2017-2018; they were also part of the VASL Residency in Karachi in 2022. They are a recipient of the Roger and Gayle Mandle Presidential Fellowship at RISD and have exhibited in several group shows, such as Liminal Spaces in Dastaangoi, Liberating Arts in Guantanamo Bay at IVS Gallery, And So It Happened at T2F Gallery. They have been a part of three collaborative films with Abdullah Qureshi, in which they acted in, produced, and designed sets and costume. These films have been exhibited locally as well as internationally at Sagar Theater on Queen’s Road (collateral event of the second Lahore Biennale), QueerAsias: Virtualizing Cartographies, and the Diasporic Rhizome, a virtual exhibition at South Asia Institute, Chicago.