Maham Khalid, who left Howell’s in 2017, is studying English at the University of the West of England and recently was awarded Poem of the Month by the Department of Arts and Cultural Industries for her poem, One Day. Congratulations Maham! Here is her winning poem:
One Day
Emily shuts her bedroom door tight.
It is night time; the rain is patterning dismally against the windows
With streaks of lightning filtering through the sky,
Like criss-cross lines.
Her emotions are a tempest.
Downstairs, she hears ranting and raving across the hallway,
And wonders. What is going on with her life, with her family, and with her mind?
Across the room she listens, and glances at the television
Brexiteers and X Factor’s musical judge Simon
Going on and on about how singing has to be good enough to get through the competition.
Emily shuts the television, then her eyes.
The rain has stopped now, and so has the sound of the thundering TV.
She takes a deep breath in, wipes her soppy tears, and standing on her two feet
She takes a look at herself in the mirror.
“One day I will be free”, she says.