Frail Stars

Jemima Shaiful, Malaysia

Frail stars
fill the bottles, one by one.
Lining up the shelves in the library,
holding a certain misery.

One, two, three, four.
An endless line never seen before.
Days turn to night, and night turns to day,
when a sudden appearance brings me out of dismay.

A soft hand pulls me forward
from the dark of the library’s empty corner,
bringing me into the sun-kissed field
where golden bottles meet my feet.

A melody of forgotten laughter rings heartily
in my ears, as the wind sings my fears away
and shakes me awake
from a deep slumber.

Shattered Teacup

Jemima Shaiful, Malaysia

One day, the teacup fell.
Shattered, its parts scattered into bits.
The floor now littered with its remains,
I looked upon what could have been—
a glistening polished teacup made of oxen bone,
its body free of scars, a sign of ease.

Picking up the remains
one by one, carefully,
when my finger reaches towards a sharp end
and knowingly holds on to it, close to my chest.
A scarless finger exposed to the danger
as it bleeds jewels of crimson,
dripping into a picture of my woes—
a masterpiece on the cracking glass floor.

Jemima Shaiful has won two Best in English awards in two years during her time in secondary school and has co-written a book, My Journey with Artjamila (Part 1). She is an emerging poet whose poems have been featured in blog posts by The Art of Autism. She has also written many painting interpretations for Artjamila, an art company based in Malaysia.