Sadiya Ali
She punched her way into my world,
Red raw and claiming her place.
Not long after, she possessed me
All I could do was stare, stunned and dope-eyed.
Now she’s all sibilant suppositions and
Enthusiastic expressions.
Earnest endeavours clinging to my leg.
Fakey shakey tantrums ending in found-out giggles.
Her laughter is a tinkly bell, high and concise,
Its vibrations reaching every single nook.
She raspberries stories, unaware of their impact,
All the while locking big bold eyes with mine.
Barbed eyelashes, impossibly black.
She peers from within when
Concocting a sparkly witticism
Or a creative complaint against the uncooperative.
Tumbling and tottering, flailing and protesting
All with a wink and a luminescent grin.
She’s more than my limited mind could construct
In those days when anticipation was my main pastime.
She’s learnt never to doubt
Her unquestionable inimitability.
She is after all unique, undoubtable, unignorable
And most definitely arrived.
I swear I see the clouds parting and
Golden rays descending,
Illuminating her like she is the only girl for me
On this spinning orb.
Sadiya is a poet who draws on themes of identity, history and relationships to produce evocative and nuanced work which poses many questions.
She inhabits a multicultural, diasporic world adopting different identities. Objects, memories and characters trigger her work.
Sadiya has been published in Pressed Town Zine, Zimmer Magazine, on Manic World and scribbled online. She was recently longlisted for the erbacce prize 2025. She has begun to perform her poetry.
She has worked in arts organisations, local government, charities and currently works in higher education.