echo 
Faith: The Arrow of Tenacity
By: Julia Rosalyn
Intertwined with the hands of time,
And a disembodied future,
A gaping escape from the life that remains,
Faith; unbound, uncertain.
And yet it is sweet relief,
Colluding with dithering grief,
Of a life that remains stolen,
And a spirit incessantly broken.
Tearing away the cumbersome weight,
For the brevity of a moment,
Unshaken by life’s deplorable state,
Soothing away lingering lament.
In the shape of God, a person, or oneself,
It takes form in soulful stealth,
Expunging the darkness of day,
And swelling the luminance of night.
As hope seeps away,
Faith remains; constant, bright,
With jaded souls that dutifully pray,
To an altar resounding with contrite.
Why do we speak to you, o Faith?
An unseen wight in our mind,
You do not utter our name,
Nor do you make promises of our respite.
And yet we cling to your presence,
And find solace in your embrace,
As we demand contentment,
Blind to our own mistakes.
A nexus of humankind,
We plead with the ugliness of nature,
The axis of our lives; enshrined,
We leap blindly into your arms.
Hush, for there is a voice that resounds,
Speaking words of happiness abound,
And we grasp at that semblance of perished sorrow,
So we may bleed away the dread of morrow.
But is faith truly a saviour for us all?
An arrow of tenacity plunged into the future,
A consolation for today’s crumbling suture,
Binding our pieces together until it is whole.
O Faith, stray not from our fractured beings,
Sway us into a serene and blissful lull,
Imbue us with your courageous seedlings,
Even if you never save us at all.
Faith: Graceful Lies
By Shay Azman
Roses that rhyme,
Deceit of our kind,
Stolen time,
Augmented visions of the mind,
Needless words that fill up empty slots of silence,
The defenceless protected by the violent,
In debt we drown for uniformed guidance,
Silver stained swords that pierce souls who’re most defiant,
Why try when we can pray,
False tales of royalty; Queen of all hearts,
Individuality and passion leads us astray?
why should we wait till death do us part,
Promise of Eternal Paradise,
Threats of endless torture,
Countless tears to pay the price,
For our nation; our future.
From our creative writers, Julia Rosalyn and Shay Azman
