Author | Zoya Zia
Rays of light shine in rebirth while night
falls in Karachi, leaving those rays for distant
stars in the same sky—I fall asleep dreaming of
day, I wake up searching for night in a constant
tug of war between life there and life here, never
gaining complete certainty of who I am and where
I belong—tolls of traffic ring with life as day
beckons in Austin, accompanied by quick scrolls
through the voids of technology that shrink
gaps between night and day in 140 characters
or less—I wake up to lives becoming numbers in
tweetable death tolls and calls for blood donations
a world away, I fall asleep thinking of better
tomorrows, never expecting tragedy but always
living in fear of unknown—unevenly divided
over the Atlantic, this dil cannot rest soundly.
About the Author | Zoya Zia is an opinionated third-year trying to educate herself on just about everything. As an International Relations & Global Studies major, she has an affinity for learning languages. With minors in Latin American Studies and Arabic, she enjoys cultural studies, discussing foreign policy, reading poetry, and of course, writing. Although she was born in Albuquerque, she sees herself caught between the places across Atlantic Ocean. As a Pakistani-American, she never feels quite at home in either country. However, she hopes to make the world a more welcoming place for all through an undivided emphasis on human rights and social justice. Whenever she’s not condemning political corruption, you can usually find her drinking some chai.