Tag: love poem

0809/11/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment

Do you know,
that you’re the only one who knows the secret path?

Do you know,
that you’re the only one who knows the secret spell?

How did you find the way,
Through the forbidding forest?

How did you find the way,
Through the sharp mountain range?

How did you find the way,
Through the dark abyss?

How did you?

Find the hidden realm.
Found the last refuge.
Found the sacred hearth.

And then leave?

How do you hear,
the words I never say?

How do you feel,
the kisses I cannot give?

How do you understand,
the foreign language I cannot speak?

It cannot be,
How can it be?

It’s just the whisper of the leaves,
It’s just the sigh of the night owl,
It’s just the last song of the robin.

Only a hymn to hope.
Only the prayer of a dreamer.
Only the tendrils of a story.

And yet.

It courses through my veins like a jolt.
It burns through my recitation.
It crumbles my strongest resolve.

Dear Creator,
The First,
The Last…

Did you allow me this tender bliss?

Or am I straying

into the well.
Into the dam
Into the ditch.

Tell me,
tell me.

Is this the man You created for me.
Am I the woman You created for him.

Is it this the relief
Is this the refuge
Is this the respite

You have planned for us?

Or is it just,

a last dance
a last test

before I’m, Yours.

16/08/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment

How is it that once

You were but a name.
You were but a face.
You were but a greeting

And now

You are the foundation of my day.
You are the shelter in my storms
You are the castle in my ruins.

How can it be

That when you walk away
When you turn away
You glance away

My heart crumbles?

Hot and cold
Cold and hot

Do you know what happens to your beloved mountains

When the weather is

Hot and cold
Cold and hot

The timeless glaciers crumble
Bit by bit
Chunk by chunk.

Changing the landscape forever.

Gorging up the rivers.
Eating up the villages.
Tearing off the trees.

Water,
Snow,
Ice.

And yet,

In water we are reborn.
In water we are cleanse.
In water we are sheltered.

Tears.

I can never say enough.
I always say too much.

Words, words, words,
No touch.

There are three of you :

The one I speak to in the day.
The one I dream of in the night
The one I cling to through the ages

A name,
A hope,
A soul.

I speak to you in english,
I speak to you in french,
I speak to you in an unknowable language.

Be free,
Don’t go.

I admire your wings,
I admire your speed.
I admire your envol,

Yet my heart breaks.

Be free,
Don’t go.

What would I do if,

The glow I bask in,
The beam I cling to,
The flame I flicker to,

Vanishes?

I am trapped,

Like a singing bird in a cage.
Like a fragrant rose in a firm hand,
Like a light drunk moth in a candle blaze.

Love is a madly rushing stream,
Tenderness is a gently cooling breeze,
Softness is a warm and fragrant soil.

A cloak,
A cabin,
A shelter.

Wide open windows,
Wide open doors,
Wide open hands.

To love is to set free.

Be free,
Be you,
Be.

As I quietly pray that

You always remember,
You always pray,
You always return.

03/08/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment

Last night,

There’s something I wanted to tell you
There was something I wanted to share with you.
There was something I wanted to greet you with.

But there were miles and miles,
But there were hours and hours,
But there were words and words,

Between us.

Instead I told you

Good morning,
Good night,
May God keep you.

Every syllable
A glimmer.

Every letter
A spark

Every breath
A gem.

So many things I wanted to say
So many things I wanted to give
So many things I wanted to share

So I keep them,

In a nest of twigs
In a chest of iron,
In a treasure box.

Cast into the sea
Cast into the desert
Cast into space.

Never to be found.
Never to be beholden.
Never to be known.

Do you wonder,

Dear heart,
Dear love,
Dear wing,

about the words I never speak?

Do they carry the same weight
Do they carry the same worth
Do they carry the same depth

as those promises you never make?
as those confessions you never share?
as those confidences you never breathe?

Do they?
Do they my dear?

Something beautiful happened to me
Something rare happened to me
Something precious happened to me.

By the door,
By the by,
By the steps,

I found a fledging.

Struggling
Straggling
Stammering,

So sweet,
So soft,
So small.

Vulnerable.

I held it in my hand
I cradled it in my hand
I sheltered it my hand.

What to do?
Where to go?
What to say?

Oh my baby
Oh my hope
Oh my heart

don’t be afraid.

Dear Lord,
Dear Sustainer,
Dear Keeper,

Help me help it.

I made a nest,

Out of straw,
Out of despair,
out of love

Its mother

Flying to and fro
Chirping high and low
Fluttering there and here.

I cannot fly
I cannot reach
I cannot leave

Like they do.

I am but human
I am but a woman.
I am but a girl,

Shivering,
Begging,
Whimpering,

Freedom,
Home,
Freedom.

Quivering with life,
Shivering with thirst,
Palpitating with anticipation.

There was a bird in my hand.

How miraculous
How beautiful
How sad!

The next morning

Took the bird away
Took the fledging away
Took the hope away.

Did it fly?
Did it die?
Did it cry?

The bird has flown.

I am silent.
You are silent.
There’s only silence.

Where to now?

24/02/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment 
There’s is a softness
There’s is a gentleness
There’s breathlessness

That I carry,
Only for you.

It used to drop from my eyes,
It used to flutter from my lips,
It used to rise from my palms.

Only for you.

Like a protective wing,
Like a delicate feather,
Like a soft plumage,

Only for you.

How swift is this sunshine,
How harsh is this wind,
How loud is that street.

Hustle and bustle,
Morning to eve,
Screen to street.

Noisy,
Roaring,
Heaving.

I cannot escape it.

I walk on,
I fight on,
I fly on.

As without flying,
I cannot remember.

The thud of my heart.
The yearning of my heart.
The secret of my heart.

Only for you.
Only for you

18/02/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment 
There’s a story your soul told her.
There’s a song your soul sung to her. 
There’s a dream your soul poured into her.

It lingers in the air…

Like musk,
Like a breath,
Like a presence.

There’s a bite in your gentleness.
There’s a cruelty in your softness.
There’s an icicle in your warmth.

You left her bruised.

Were you careless?
Were you thoughtless?
Were you heedless?

Or did you devise it?

Walked through the woods.
Peeked through the curtains.
Swam through the rapids.

Until you found her…

The wild damsel.
The free creature.
The gentle girl.

Dancing,
Singing,
Weaving

Feathers,
Tears 
And smiles.

What a tender smile,
You think.

What a gentle face,
You say.

What a soft hand,
You sigh.

How healing,
How warm,
How quenching. 

You delight in her.
You hide in her.
You regenerate in her.

Look at those trampled violets,
Look a those ruffled feathers,
Look at those broken branches.

You held her too tight,
You discarded her too hastily.

Starving.
Hungry.
Famish. 

Like a child.
Like a boy.
Like a stray.

It will fade,
It will eventually fade. 

The pain,
The memory,
The loneliness…

Yet,
You remain hungry.

Yet,
She remains lost.

And you both roam,
And you both wander,
And you both ramble.

Aimlessly. 

Bones aching. 
Brain aching.
Beating, beating aching hearts.

One decision,
One word,
One step,

And spring can return.

The question,
The presence,
The augur,

Linger, linger
Linger in the air. 

Tell me, my sweet, 
Will spring ever return?

30/10/19

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment 
 Today I cast a bottle in the sea.
 Today I sent a pigeon into the winds.
 Today, I dropped a coin in the well. 

 I didn’t tell anyone,
 
 But the sparrows bracing for winter,
 But the squirrels packing for winter,
 But the trees baring for the winter.
 
 They didn’t see the sunset on my cheeks,
 They didn’t see the rain in my eyes
 They didn’t see the spring on my lips.
 
 It’s like singing a lullaby
 
 Against the wind,
 Against the world
 Against the web.
 
 Like a revolution.
 Like a declamation.
 Like a declaration.
 
 That nobody will hear.
 
 They all died on the battlefield.
 They all deserted years ago.
 They all ran like traitors.
 
 The war is over.
 
 Only the wind rumbles.
 Only the bees bumble.
 Only the lost stumble.
 
 Who are the lost ones?
 
 The lovelorn,
 The loverless,
 The lovers…
 
 It’s a madness, isn’t it?
 
 But you never notice it when you are 
 
 Hand in hand,
 Lips to lips,
 Heart to heart.
 
 You only open your eyes 
 
 When the night is utterly still.
 When the morning is utterly bright.
 When the end is utterly near.
 
 Or when you shiver alone at a bus stop.
 Or when you wander alone at the death of night.
 Or when you wake up alone after a realistic dream. 
 
 Pure madness.
 
 Quick,
 
 Breath in in the autumn mulch 
 Breath out the busy city.
 Breath in last year’s roses.

 Can you make sense of it?
 
 From evening mist to morning dew.
 From the warm afternoon to the freezing night.
 From the hopeful greeting to the mournful parting;
 
 I wait.

 Nothing but

 The ripples of the water,
 The whispers of the wind,
 The echoes of a clinking.
 
 In the distance,
 Far off.
 So far,
 
 A fading echolalia…

 It’s not you,
 It’s not real,
 It’s just my mind…
 
 So deeply anchored;
 So deeply entrapped;
 So deeply enchanted:

 That no one can distract. 
 
 Except songs,
 Except stories,
 Except stanzas 
 
 Of something that doesn’t dare exist.