Written by Zara Noor

Illustrated by Laura Liu

This city is unkind to wanderers. I watch 

                           boys watch girls on the train. Gazes 

felled in the swift close of a door. I watch 

                                   myself watching their reflection. 

Tonight, I live my world through glances. 

I can fold myself motionless. Slip past

                                      unseen as a stowaway. Hitch-hiking,

to be carried far from here by strangers. This is 

                                             the lightest I will ever be. I drink it in 

from a slow cup.                 They will not remember me here. 

I am 

                                                       so still I could be anyone. 

Buried, as static bodies are.

In this poem, Zara explores alienation, from self and others, in a city like London.

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