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Bahrain-based bard Mustafa Ilahi, who goes by the monicker ‘Reign’ has published his first book of poetry, marking his coming of age with 81 poems, writes Naman Arora.
The new book, titled Expression, is available on Amazon, and is divided into three parts – based on the age Reign was, when he wrote them – 15, 16 and 17.
“I started writing poetry back when I was 13 and in need of some healthy coping mechanisms,” the 19-year-old Pakistani writer, who grew up in Bahrain, told GulfWeekly.
“Poetry was a way to release my emotions, to express myself. Hence, Expression being the title of my first book.”
Reign’s book gives voice to a wide range of emotions and problems, even taking aim at taboo topics including assault, substance abuse, death, capitalism, racism, and more.
The author, who is currently in Grade 12 at Britus International School, calls the book “a statement in a world full of equations”.
“I only write when the poems come to me - you’ll never catch me writing a poem just because I wanted to, it goes much deeper than just that,” he added.
“The poems tend to come to me. I get this eerie feeling in my chest and I just know it is time to write. Due to which, it took me approximately five to seven minutes to finish writing my longest poem and two to four minutes for the rest.
“I only write on the floor. Usually I use my bathroom floor but it can also sometimes be the floor of my room with the door closed or if I’m outside, then any floor would do as long as it isn’t too noisy.”
Compiling the book, which Reign hopes to see in bookstores across the GCC, took the author three years, as he narrowed down from 220 poems to the final 81.
The author also included a list of trigger warnings with the book to “make sure everyone who read the book felt safe and wasn’t blindsided by any of the poems as they can be pretty dark to read through.
“The process of putting the book together was brutal,” he explained.
“Having to re-read those poems and actually go through all of those emotions again was triggering to say the least. I had to reopen all the closed wounds and actually sit in those feelings again. It was a difficult and lengthy process but in the end I got something beautiful out of it so you won’t catch me complaining.”
Expression by Reign is available on Amazon.
For more details, follow @reignthecreative on Instagram.
