[one_half]
London
It’s raining again.
they don’t tell you about the
rain
before you come
or the cold or the clouds,
reminds me how much
I miss you.
yesterday I saw a boy
scrawny little thing, geeky glasses
reminded me of Hassan, only white
of course,
eyes the same curious green
imagine
he’ll be grown soon.
I worry how you must raise him, alone
with all that’s going on –
I pray for you but
sometimes think I should be there
or you here, remember
we said only a year
apart, how long has it been?
how long without sun
and home, and you
I wish you were here
[/one_half]
[one_half_last]
Jhelum
Abujee is sick again.
nothing serious they say
but
old bones dry in this sun
and old men too,
always in pain he says
he misses you.
Hassan as well
looking so much like his father now
always first in class
of course,
the teacher talks of university
imagine
our little Hassan.
don’t mind what you see in the news
we’re safe here
Aneesha brings us food from market
fridays, after Jummah
fresh mangoes, remember?
I wish I could write one for you
put some slices in this ink
a little taste of sun
and home, and us
I wish you were here[/one_half_last]
~ Samuel Usayd Ilyas
Samuel Usayd Ilyas is a writer of Pakistani and Jamaican descent, who grew-up between London and Paris. He is a winner of the Oxford Festival of the Arts Prize for Poetry, and has published stories in The London Journal of Fiction and Litro Magazine. He has contributed to several UNESCO publications and currently reads History at the University of Oxford.