My sparrow,
My wing,
My love
You find me hesitant.
You find me shy.
You find me gentle.
But you don’t know about the wind.
It blew through my curtains,
It tore into my ears
It burned my heart.
He’s gone now.
Gone,
Disappeared,
Vanished.
He didn’t ask
He didn’t want
He didn’t care
But I gave,
And I gave,
And I gave.
He left,
but his memory wouldn’t leave.
He left,
but his words wouldn’t leave.
He left,
but his ghost wouldn’t leave.
Until you came along.
Spring in autumn,
Summer in winter.
Joy in my tears,
Hope in my pleas.
Will you leave too?
Once the roses have crumpled,
Once the birds have flown,
Once the leaves have scattered.
Will you leave too?
I’ve loved before but never like this,
As we laugh, we are both children,
As we cry we are both a wreckage,
As we long we are both free souls.
Yet,
I am not yours,
You are not mine,
We are neither’s…
Yet.
The air is balmy
The sky is blue
The birds are chirping.
Lost in a thought,
Lost in a dance,
Lost in a feeling,
I watch summer enfold.
Burned down the coffee pot
To cinders.
Boiled the custard
To a tsunami.
Dropped the vase
To pieces.
Pieces of you,
Pieces of me,
All those tiny pieces.
So fine,
So delicate
So evanescent.
Is it love?
Is it lust?
Is it loneliness?
Tell me love.
Is it the heat?
Is it a fever?
Is it destiny?
Tell me love.
Is it my imagination.
Is it your game.
Is it our delusion?
Tell me love.
But you don’t know,
Do you?
But I don’t know,
I really don’t.
True love is blind,
I’ve never seen you.
True love is klnd
You’re always kind.
True love binds.
We can never part.
You go,
You return.
I go,
I return.
Likes waves,
Like the wind,
Like a whisper.
Never held you.
Never beheld you.
Never heard you.
But you haunt me like a ghost.
But you haunt me like a memory.
But you haunt me like a hymn.
A hymn of something I hope for here and now.
A memory of something happening now.
A ghost of someone who is far away right now.
But grows closer.
Closer,
and closer…
Like the summer heat.
Like the flutter of wings.
Like the dance of the moon.
Closer,
Closer yet.
Your fingertips against mine,
Fluttering, fluttering.
Your gaze meeting mine,
Hovering, hovering.
Your soul tasting mine,
Whispering, whispering.
So far away.
So close.
Closer,
Come closer.
Hush, hush my sweet,
Slow, slow down my bird,
Wait, wait my wing.
The time hasn’t come yet.
For you and me,
To meet.
For me and you,
To promise.
For us,
To embrace.
The air is balmy
The sky is blue
The birds are chirping.
and I am lost,
Lost in hope.
Lost in prayer.
Lost in you.
Only you.
Layla Ali Sultan 