A young Indiana poet from Indianapolis, Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq, has released a new poetry collection that shines a light on important social issues like mental health and inequality.
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Her semi-autobiographical debut, titled ‘Four Years in Chrysalis’, channels her experiences of homelessness and displacement throughout half of her childhood and the first few years of her adulthood, and charts her subsequent struggle with mental illness.
More details can be found at https://bit.ly/AishaTariqaBooks
The release coincides with the latest sobering statistics from the National Conference of State Legislatures. They reveal that an estimated 4.2 million youth and young adults experienced homelessness last year, of which 700,000 were unaccompanied minors, meaning that they were both homeless and without any parental figure.
Moreover, the same study showcased that 69% of homeless youth report having mental health problems, emphasizing the strong overlap between this rampant social issue and a host of other lifelong challenges.
Having experienced both homelessness and depression, Abdul Haqq has become a passionate advocate for change, and she believes that poetic expression is a path towards greater empathy and a more powerful, shared approach to tackling these problems.
She hopes that with the release of her debut collection she can encourage readers to reflect on their perceptions of the homeless in relation to themselves. She argues that people often think that they are immune to homelessness. However, as a report from EndHomelessness.org showcased, during the COVID-19 quarantine years, much of America is in fact just one missed wage away from this fate.
As such, through ‘Four Years in Chrysalis’ she hopes to combat the pervasive conflation of homelessness with dirtiness and immorality. Through her words, she believes readers will understand that people experiencing homelessness are as human as they are.
One powerful extract from her debut on this theme is included below.
“Through the apocalypse
Glimmers of hope are caught
Like tears in a bucket
Or a snowflake on the tongue
Fleeting
We were forewarned
By the worn cardboard
In the homeless man’s lap
Amplified by the number of street corners able to provide shelter from stinging wind
And from rain that blasts sideways through crevices
Plus one more evening alone
Dirt of the Earth
Crust of my eye
Shadows rise groaning
Hidden by the cascading darkness of my eastern side
Sun setting
Arm outstretched, contents hidden
Sounds like a zombie movie, right?
That all he wants is a piece of your brain
A question answered
Consideration of humanity
And maybe some alms given
We do not differentiate between the two night walkers
Both are beggars, right?
We fast-pace step
Past their languid gait
We do not see that sometimes the only difference between a warm home and a cold street
Is one person who cares
And if you could look in the mirror
Reflect loneliness on a dark corner
I wonder if you would ask for help
Or cast yourself off as the scum of the Earth”
Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq is an up-an-coming young poet from Indianapolis. Through her poetry she aims to address and heal a range of social ills including homelessness, inequality and poor mental health.
Interested readers can follow her poetic and advocacy work on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @AishaTariqa.
A spokesperson for the poet said, “Aisha Tariqa also encourages readers to make eye contact with their neighbor who inhabits the pavement and to share a smile — even such a small gesture will do wonders for the morale of those who find themselves down and out. As lack of money is not a character flaw, but a condition, Aisha Tariqa hopes that readers will consider altering their discernment and share a bit of themselves with their neighbor who lacks most things but does possess a heart that can be touched with kindness, and a mind that can be eased with goodwill.”
More information is available at https://www.aishatariqa.com/landing-page
Contact Info:
Name: Aisha Abdul-Haqq
Email: Send Email
Organization: Aisha Tariqa Abdul Haqq Publishing LLC
Address: 55 Monument Circle 7th Floor, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204, United States
Website: https://www.aishatariqa.com/publishing-services
Release ID: 89073994
