Tag: romantic

14/01/21

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment

Are those words for me?
Are those roses for me?
Are those sighs for me?

Or are they for the world?
Or are they for your ghosts?
Or are they for your own self?

I sifter through them
I slide through them
I fly through them.

High
High high
High up there.

And I look down.

Is this a sparrow?
Is this a boy?
Is this a crown less king?

I cannot leave.

When your gaze turns inward.
When your words turn inward.
When your battles turn inward.

I fall down…

Like dust on your jacket,
Like a feather in your hair,
Like rain on your cheeks.

Are those my tears?
Are those your tears?
Are those our tears?

If there’s any doubt in your mind.
If there’s any fear in your heart.
If there’s any dust on your soul.

Please remember,

I am yours.

It is for you that I write.
It is for you that I sing.
It is for you that I pray.

In spite of the distance,
In spite of the veil,
In spite of the web,

Between us,

It is all for you.

May I be your shield.
May I be your banner.
May I be your cloak.

May we ride side by side.
May we struggle side by side.
May we pray side by side.

May you find your way home.

From this journey,
From this quest,
From this victory.

It’s not a battle of fists,
It’s a battle of might.

Of the soul against the self,
Of the heart against the darkness,
Of the feather against the steal.

My gentle sparrow.

I watch you through the mirror,
I watch you through the veil,
I watch you through my dreams,

as I struggle too.

Against my self doubts,
Against my nightmares,
Against my bitterness.

Do you know that I struggle too?

I am not a saint of stone and decay.
I am not a maiden of porcelain.
I am not a queen of glass.

I am too small.
I am too gnarled.
I am too cracked,

for perfection.

I hope you remember that,

When you long for me,
When you pray for me,
When you wait for me.

I am not perfect,
You are not perfect
but Our Creator is perfect.

And He knows,
what we don’t know.

So I pray,
Like I hope you pray.

15/10/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment

The tree is long gone

But the seedling remains
But the flames remain
But the ashes remain

Burning,
Glowing,
Warming.

It’s the campfire,
The lone candle,
That first spark

Like a kiss never tasted
Like a word never spoken
Like an embrace never felt.

Here,
yet never here.

Ghosts,
Hopes,
And dreams

Are all the same.

They exist in the roaring wind
They exist in the gushing rain
They exist in the snapping banches –

And the wind,

Blows,
Blows
And blows.

So many voices in each gust
So many hopes in the cascading leaves
So many thoughts in the wavering branches.

Some bend,
Some waver,
Others break.

Which one am I?
Which one are you?
Which ones is our love?

Or is it still an acorn?
Or is it already digested?
Or were we too green when we fell?

There’s a knight that wanders
There’s a traveler that lingers
There’s a lost boy that wonders

He dreams of a fairy maiden…
He dreams of a homely wife…
He dreams of a loving lover…

He dreams
as strongly as the wind blows.

He dreams
as gently as the leaves scatter.

He dreams
as deeply as these roots seek.

Until she turned to him, and told him,

You are in my dreams,
You are in my prayers,
You are in my heart.

The branch falls in the mud
The twigs slapped the trunk.
The acorns spattered on the asphalt.

So much for the dream….

Reality stands tall
Reality reaches high
Reality draws deep.

An oak tree.

Reality….

There are no knights nor fairies,
There are no traveller and nor wife
There are no young and fresh lovers.

There is you
There is me.
Here we are…

Every line,
Every feather,
Every crack…

As imperfect as reality.
As real as true beauty.
As imperfect as true beauty

An acorn,
A seedling,
A shell,

… Hope.

24/06/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment 
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.

16/06/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment 
You confessed something.
I confessed everything.


Childhood dreams.
Childhood tales.


She was a tired crooner
He was an injured footballer.


He read her words
Before he coud hear her voice.


She knew his game
Before she could watch him run.


Who are you?
Who am I?
Who are they?


The smoke like a mist,
The percussion like thunder,
The stage like a funeral parlor.


Friends?
No I don’t do friends.


Date?
No I don’t date.


Marriage?
No I’m not ready.


She ran,
to return to her old songs.


He left,
to return for another chase.


Lustrous eyes
Hurried breaths,
Shivering fingers.


Love, is it love?


Not now, my love, not now.
Too late, my love, too late.
Too fast, my love, too fast.


Dainty,
Regal,,
Sensitive.


A wingless bird.


Noble,
Strong,
Gentle.


A voiceless lion. 


Lips almost meeting,
Fingertips almost lingering,
Hearts almost meeting.


Frozen in time.


Did you hear her latest hit?


Slow and mellow,
Warm and glowing,
Melancholic and elated.


Did you watch his last game?


Fast and fierce,
Calm and tough,
Hopeful and despairing.


No, they didn’t see it.


Only those who have eyes see.
Only those who have light see.
Only those who have hearts see.


Hearts that have tasted pure terror.
Hearts that have tasted pure bliss.
Hearts that have tasted pure love.


Like in those rusted songs,
Like in those dusty movies,
Like in these wilted poems.


That you grew up with.
That you grew out of.
That you are growing back to.


All for an unexpected love…


The kind of love that just cannot exist;


Unless, it is blessed,
Unless it is bestowed,
Unless it is decreed,


By the One who,


Choreographs the dance of the moon and sun.
Embroiders the colors of winter and summer.
Conducts the lament of the wind and the sea.


What do they know?
What can they know?
How can they know?


He collects teary eyed,
Words from her dreams.


She sings in utter abandon
Words he thinks. 


He carries like a crown,
Words she coons.


Midsummer sighs.
Midyear prayers.
Midlife rebirth,


Entwined,
Interwoven,
Interlocked,


Before they knew.
Before they hoped.
Before they existed.


Tell me,
Is this the dream we shared?


Tell me,
Is this the hope you carried?


Tell me,
Is it the fairytale He designed? 


You and I.
Me and you.
Us?

30/03/20

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment 
When I send you a smile
It’s a hand on your shoulder. 

When I send you a rose,
It’s a kiss on your cheek.

When I send you a picture,
It’s my hand reaching for yours.

Words are all we have.
Words are never enough.

Patience is all we have.
Patience has to be enough.

Hope is all we have. 
Hope is more than enough. 

Did you hear?
Did you read?
Do you believe…

The world is ending.

Falling like flies.
Hiding like preys.

Did you feel it?
Did you sense it?
Do you know that…

We are just beginning. 

Falling like teenagers.
Hiding like children.

Social distancing
Safety confinement
Self quarantine

All those words mean nothing

When the one you dream of,
When the one you pray for,
When the one you love 

Is already so far away.

As we hide from society
As we distance from friends
As we wash our hands again and again.

We open up with cipher.
We cling through a web.
We reach through a net

And hold on to each other.

Like there’s no tomorrow.
Like there’s no one else.
Like there are no bodies.

No hands to hold.
No eyes to behold.
No lips to homage.

Just a few words.
Just a few images.
Just two souls.

Tell me, my love,

Where do we court each other?

In our deeply hidden dreams?
In our hesitant instant messaging?
In that state of being beyond reality?

Is it a love of clicks and swipes?
Is it a love of aesthetics and quotes?
Is it a love of mystical and divine quality?

Why am I even asking when I already know…

Whether it was face to face.
Whether it was here or there.
Whether it was from link to links.

It doesn’t matter really how we found each other.

Unspoken,
Unimaginable,
Unreachable,

Was it always there

In your dreams, 
In my songs,
In the Divine Decree…?

Or so, I pray that it is.

They are hoarding
They are despairing.
They are scurrying.

I am scattering my petals.
You are stretching your branches.
Between us, spring is in full bloom.

And we are all praying,
And we are all waiting,
And we are all striving,

For better days to come.

The storm will fall.
The eruption will still.
The outbreak will fade.

And what will remain…

Is beyond our hopes.
Is beyond our fears. 
Is beyond our predictions.

But I know that…

When that lull comes,
When that dawn breaks,
When that beacon lights,

It is to you that I shall fly to.

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

23/09/19

~ Layla ~ Leave a comment

One droplet,
Two droplets
And here comes the rain.

Can you smell it?

The earth is singing.
The soil is humming.
The ground is crooning.

Oh so soft
so gentle.
so fierce.

and I raise my arms to the sky
and I swirl like a celestial body
and I feel my feet leaving the earth.

and I sing too

At the top of my lungs.
From the depth of my soul.
To the pain in my heart.

If only I were a bird.

Like the wise and brave hoopoe
Like the terrified but brave goldfinch
Like the disillusioned but brave owl .

I would fly without flailing  like they did…

Until I found you.
But will I ever find you?

Perhaps you were only the path.
Perhaps you were only the question.
Perhaps you were only the awakener.

To a higher path.
To a nobler oath.
To a brighter thirst.

To the One I belong to.

And yet you linger.
Like a feather in my lashes.

And yet you whisper.
Like a scent against my lips.

And yet, you always return,
Like autumns breezing against my back.

But I turn around,
You are gone.

What should I do, dear?

When they come to me,
with their hearts in their hands.

When they come to me,
with their confessions on their lips.

When they come to me,
with their sincerity on their cheeks…

I run.
I run away.

I run into the hazy woods.
I run to the crumbling summit.
I run to the ever tumbling sea.

But I never find you.
You are gone.

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And I remain alone.

Dancing without music,
Waiting without hoping,
Hoping without thinking.

Never think, dear, never think.
Lest you wake up your own destruction.

Rationality.
Lucidity.
Reason.

I swing them away.
I minstrel them away.
I dream them away.

Until I find my never-never land again.
Until I find your silhouette in the glimmer.
Until I find peace in this tale I spin.