Striker

A poem by Hibah Shabkhez

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I am hurtling against the walls 

  Of the powder-lined board 

Gaining strength from each collision

  To hound hapless pieces 

  Into holes. Each that falls 

Is quickly extracted and scored: 

Black, ten points; white, twenty. No one,

  Except me, ever asks

    Why.

Hibah Shabkhez is a writer and photographer from Lahore, Pakistan. Her work has previously appeared in Harpur Palate, Stirring, Forevermore, Empyrean Literary Magazine, Good River Review, 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.