Welcome back to part two of our six-part series in Season 2 of Voices from the Sky! This week, we welcome Ateeb Gul, who will introduce us to his poem "Portable Cactus," which was originally published in Issue 5 (Summer 2018) of Sky Island Journal.

Ateeb Gul is a Ph.D. candidate in the Islamic Studies specialization. His areas of research are Islam in South Asia, sirah literature (biographies of Prophet Muhammad), gender in Islamic thought, religion and literature, the history of science and philosophy in the Islamic world, and Islam and New Atheism. He studied for a B.Sc. (honours) in Social Sciences at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (L.U.M.S.) and for an M.A. in Editorial Studies at Boston University. He is also a professional editor, author, poet, and translator. His literary work has featured in Literary Imagination, Ink in Thirds, and Sky Island Journal.

In this episode, Ateeb delivers a reading of his poem, "Portable Cactus," and will be back in the next episode to take us inside his head and heart as we explore the piece more deeply.

You can enjoy more incredible works of poetry, flash fiction, and creative nonfiction from writers all over the globe at: https://www.skyislandjournal.com