GIFT

My six new soup-bowls line her shelf    
each with a lacy leaf and rose
that cringes from the seventh's scowl
from the memories it dredges
out of the misting past

Resolute to the last
at my remonstrances she smiles
like a hollowed-out egg, and goes
on eating in the cracked old bowl 
chipping gently at the edges

Hibah Shabkhez is a writer of the half-yo literary tradition, an erratic language-learning enthusiast, and a happily eccentric blogger from Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has previously appeared in Plainsongs, Microverses, Sylvia Magazine, Better Than Starbucks, Post, Wine Cellar Press, and a number of other literary magazines. Studying life, languages, and literature from a comparative perspective across linguistic and cultural boundaries holds a particular fascination for her.

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/HibahShabkhez