Palms of ocean blue
This sinking boat
Me and you
Hands tied to sheltered love
We float on our backs
Toward shallow waters
Dipping our toes
Into wet sand
Hanging our feet
Off the edge
Of these coastal cliffs
Reaching for the horizon
Tying together strings of current
That exists between
these distant conversations
a rush of turquoise
runs through our blood
cooling down the fire
that rages within
our anger subsides
and we start floating
toward togetherness

There is a breeze that floats around you
When you stare longingly at opportunity’s shoes
They’re polished and ablaze with the colours of potential
And your soles are aching as they breathe through rugged leather
I know your feet can’t brave walking down the rocky path of regret
But around you, there is an enchanting glow
That pulls the wind as it lays down carpets of soil beneath your feet
And as you hang your head low,
Imagining the door that those glittering shoes would’ve taken you to
Courage follows you like a distant shadow
Your silent companion in pain
Waiting to embrace you with its resilient air
And as you long for reaching opportunity’s door
Courage prepares its wings to carry you to a million more.

You carry with you pick-pocketed fairytales
In hopes to find something close enough to home
That can fill your glass half-full
You sew yourself into white noise
Soak your hands in spring waters
That rush down memory lanes
Putting together a mosaic
of the greener grass you saw
On the other side
Stitching together fragments of light
From the end of the tunnel
Even bought yourself some rose coloured glasses
To see the silver lining of every cloud
But it all falls short
When the tree stops bearing lemons
So, what does life give now?
Besides some shade and something to laugh about...

The winter mornings are unlike others
When casting shadows of dark dreams have retired,
And all that's given is glory and fire
Fuelling the sparks of the sun on a new day,

But summer evenings are just as magical
The night of warmth with no sign of being tired
The dreams that are coming are already floating in space
and the stars are shining with grace

Yet spring afternoons are always enchanting,
With droplets of rain that are always dancing
There is nothing like the gleam of light shining through foggy haze,

And even then nothing compares to a midnight in fall
When winds are whistling
And trees stand tall
Colours changing with every closing eye,
There is nothing like the seasons at all

I speak to your silence; philosophies and my darkest dreams
I speak to the velvet petals that sink into my skin at the slightest touch
Or to the glittering sea as sunlight showers down its grace
I speak to your sadness; songs and glorious days of remembrance
And we get lost in enchantment, or somewhere along the shore
You tell me fake stories and I listen to them with all my heart
I tell you about sad songs, and you take me away from my guilt...

I speak to your memory; things I’ve never had the courage to say
But now you’re lingering on the surface of ice
And I’m a thousand miles away

You've left me here
In pools of honey and vanilla
Dreaming of London fog
Holding onto chamomile evenings
With every last breath
Orange pekoe on my tongue
Thoughts of you like jasmine flowers
Warm water and green tea
Something hibiscus and peach
Floating like little worlds
Surrounding me as I drown
In this romanticized life
Watching you swirl your spoon
In everything
We said
Was not our cup of tea

Between us and this dying world
Are conversations and stuttered words
That we left in the hands of midnight breeze
I float in your laughter, too light
to be weighed down by my fears
We lay under this sea of stars
Pointing into the sky
Casting nets into this galaxy of dreams
Calloused hands caress this wind
As stories pour out of our limbs
And we wash away yesterday's storm
Waiting for the sun to rise
Basking in the terracotta sky
Asleep against the coolness of the ground
Smiles still remnant on our face
And in all this was a heavy heart
That you pulled out from my chest
Held it in your palm as you slept
And I existed in your ease

I desire to smell the flowers that grow in your allies
The ones that colour the streets even in the darkest light
And walk the trail of stars your people leave behind
When their wandering towards new wonders
As they turn new corners in their lives
I dream of floating in your scent, that dances in the wind
Carrying culture, history, and your nature in its wings
I’ll dance amongst your voices, and sway with their melodies
The laughter will carry me to your quiet little streets
And somewhere in the silence I’ll start to miss my home
Until your stars will start to wrap me in your ethereal glow
And from then on along your yellow brick roads
I’ll make your love my home

Take your parachute and let it fall
As you lay there in between the sky
Watching dreamers walk through life
Wishing they were somewhere up high
Spread your wings and take a breath
The atmosphere will clear your head
Let the time go as you stay afloat
Holding onto every rope
Look down and see your reflection stare
As it looks up to you and wonders,
Where they’ll be when time will pass
Will they fly and will it last?
Would they reach the sky one day?

Look down and tell yourself,
it’ll be ok.

And with this hope...

When all these walls turn into doors
Oceans into rivers with bridges
Mountains into hills, hills to fields

Will you then realize
The potency of all your dreams
When you tell them to me
They invade all my air space
My thoughts and my sleep
And I hold onto them for you
Thinking of ways to draw maps
Reciting them in my prayers
Waiting for the day
When all this hope I carry
Returns home to you

And with this hope...

I exist in a world where you are never without dreams

If I told the stars what I know of you
They’d shine even brighter through the blue
And if I told the sea what you used to be
Then the tides would start dancing underneath the moon
So take me to the sunsets that never seemed to leave
The ones that would glitter on the surface of your view
If I told the wind what I remember of you
It would whistle in its glory and carry me back to you

Dear future,

Time and I aren’t friends
We aren’t lovers
Yet I can’t live without it
I’m always falling off an edge
I’m sure you are too
The clock ticks louder
Every time I look for you
You, the future.
You wait at every corner
I chase you
But can never catch up
I’m always stuck in the present
As I dream of you
Sometimes you keep me up at night
Because I’m thinking,
Tirelessly exhausted.
I let time break me piece by piece
As I chase after the stars
And stand under the shadow
Of your relentless timing
Waiting for you
Anticipating...

An Unwritten Story

I. (The beginning of a journey)

I held the stars in the palm of my hands
Walked along the edges of the horizon line
And wished for the sun, the moon and the sky
To take me home back to the times
When there was nothing but starry eyes
And dreams of hope in my my mind.

II. (Caravans and escapades)

Maybe somewhere along the way
we could stop by the past that binds
Drop some pennies into a fountain of love
Wish for wishes and some better luck.
Maybe even some brighter days
The things we’ve wanted all along.

III. (Reality in the form of gold)

But now I’m staring at a line of gold
Where the sun touches the ground
And the flames take my hope
As I open up my fists and let the stars go
And watch them as they take their place
Perfectly in your starlit face.

IV. (Destinations and dedications)

I’ll stare right into the waves of light
The endless constellations in your eyes
Look for rolling hills in your darkest time
Be the dawn on one of those bad nights
And wake up to the sun in my face
For we’ve made it to the horizon light

These fingers trace dust
that glistens in this fractured light
over old frames
crafted with beads and pink glue
glitter fell onto our laps
as we rattled this earth with our laughs
where did the time go
when we held it so tight?
yet it still disappeared, out of our sight  
now I look for you in bus windows
I listen for you in those youthful laughs
Holding onto these moments
wiping away the ashes
of these burnt recollections
from my shaking hands

a world
of distant voices and glittering echoes
painted with a thousand sunsets
that I've poured into my eyes
to find some relief from this tiredness
Days walk beside me, years run ahead
I wish I could collect all the silences
between all that I've said
and fill them in with things
I've lost to time
Thank you notes spill from my hands to yours
The permanence of things begins to fade among dialogue once shared
There is a world I have spent building
With stories and reminders
you left for me
I hope you'll find in it
the transience of an anger
that ceases to be

You anxiously pace the room
As you sit still lost in thought
Caught in a time loop
Running back and forth
Between your ambitions and anxieties
Your heart is constantly racing
As your mind is overthinking
You are lost in the present's darkness
Hoping to find your future
Somewhere in your past mistakes

The moon vanishes
As you surround yourself with anxiety
Whenever you turn your head
Towards a past shaded with regret

So, settle your restless heart
Turn towards the sky
Do you see it waiting?
Like a dim lamp
Waiting for recognition
Like a gift that will illuminate
The night that has fallen
Over your dreams

Destiny will smile at you once again.
The drought that has infected your heart
Will be washed away
With showers that rain down from your ambitions

To all the mornings that go wrong
1 hope you know
I find my laughter in you
somewhere along the "why mes" and "why nows"
A beautiful summer breeze hit
And I forgot what there was to complain about

Oh beautiful wonder, how terribly i’ll miss you,
You taught me to love in the colour blue,
With your endless brush-stroked seas,
And skies blended with azure hues.
I’ve fallen in love with your scent that trails  along sculpted roads
Even your dark corners, that I’d never dare to tread
You’ve latched on to my heart by every last thread

Oh beautiful people, how terribly I’ll miss you
You with your melodic voices, and hands of gold
Your language flowing through the wind,
pulling my heartstrings with every word.
And your welcoming faces, laced with a stunning smile.

Oh beautiful city how terribly I’ll miss you,
You with your crowded streets and busy nights.
Your nocturnal nature alive with your city lights,
bright lights that steal my every gaze,
And your laughter that will forever ring in my ear.  

Oh beautiful wonder, only for you
I’ll have to leave my love here
For it is all yours, and one day when I fall in love with another place
My heart will pull me back to you
For it it still says your name.

Sometimes there are words on blank pages,
If you look closely enough.
Sometimes there is music in the silence,
If you listen closely enough.
But it all comes down to if you see it,
The spaces between the letters,
The messages in my whispers,
Or my cunning subtlety that screams in your face.
Sometimes my eyes recite poetry,
But you’d have to look into them to know.
Sometimes there are prayers in my blank stares,
And sometimes my silence is a drum.

Between us and this divided sea
Between us and this dying sun
Between us and this pale blue sky
Between us and the raging tide
Between us and running time
Between us and yesterday's dreams
Between us and tomorrow's sleep
Between us and the drying leaves
Between us and winter's grave
Between us and summer's taste
Between us and this beating heart
Between us and what's beneath
Are the remnants of our interlaced
Fingers
Still holding onto
Love
Hope
And some reason to
Breathe

I know you can see through me
I hope you can read my mind
Because I can’t seem to find words
To tell you that I feel alive
And you’ve slowed your presence
You let me wait for the summer
You showed me a silver lining

I’m afraid of losing you
But you’ve already passed
And now you have a new face
One coloured with kindness and the past
Your benevolent presence
Is starting to fade
now you’re just a moment
and I sit here forgetting you
Thinking about my regrets
Bewildered and dazed

We, birds in pain,
Put our trust in branches
Too weak to hold the weight of these dreams
This saffron grief is too fragrant
For our evergreen pine noses.
The everyday calamity
The everyman dream
Burns through the soil in our lungs,  
Memories of summer are now lost in September rain.
I am here dreaming of mending hearts
That have braved more than they can bear
But these drooping eyelids
Are stuck in endless night cycles
Of listening to the sounds of misery

when you climb mountains
you leave your footprints
in the rigid soil
that feeds into the ground
we once laid on
waiting for the sun to descend
to take our guards down
and prepare our fingers
for pointing at stars

Time leaves us reminiscing
Leaving behind bitter tastes laced with honey
something you liked about coffee
on these notes

I think about the distances between
Who you are and what I hope to be
And I see the mountains you said you'd climb

I massage the black seed oil into my hair
love the way it reminds me of my mother's fragrant laugh
And the way her soft hands stretch the dough
And she sprinkles kalonji onto it where the melting butter
welcomes the seeds with open arms

I braid this ocean breeze into my itching scalp
Thinking of how she would sit me down
And run her fingers through my knotted hair
After I played outside without a care
And I would shriek in pain with every pull,
desperate to leave her grasp
But she would pour the mustard seed oil onto her palms
And I would be transported into her tough love

Now I think about those moments,
And the pain feels like distant menthol induced haziness
Instead, all I feel is my back against her warmth

—————————————————————
Kalonji - Black Seed/Onion Seed

If the world was a stage and I was a play-write:

The wind: It was a musician, the muse of a heartbeat and whistling was its charm.

The leaves: The companions of the wind, they were the strings of the guitar. Dancing towards oblivion.

The flowers: They were the painters. A vision was their purpose. They played with colours and mystery.

The sun: It was the stage light, as it glowed upon the sounds of music in the air, the surface of the leaves, and gave life to all the trees.

The stars: They were the show stoppers, dancing in the sky. Revelling in the attention from the eyes of the observer.

The moon: The shy wonder of the night, sometimes barely visible. As it timidly sets the stage for another afternoon.

And lastly,

You: With a thousand stories to tell you’re in thousands of places at once. Looking for mountains to climb and things to design. You’re curious and too quick, never on the stage but merely an observer, but secretly you’re the whole show.


There are a thousand stories to tell,
So I’ll tell you a secret to this mysterious show
The script is blank, the pages clear white
And every minute new words appear
For I am merely following sentimental alliances
Just an observer watching as the future becomes clear.

Bloom, where do you go
when you are planted in this soil
soil, infiltrated with blue
the colour you wear so well
the only colour you can see
I try to mend these yellow dyed dreams
before they turn to green and the soil dries  
the sky already grey

It's raining, every time you open your eyes

I often find myself seeking validation from words that were never written for my tongue

Caging myself behind walls made of letters still undefined

pacing the corners of my fears wondering what is being said in another’s mind

I run from the words that define my faults, disowning them and leaving them behind

But I still carve them into the crevices of my skin, to remind myself of everything that I’ll never be

Then, I write a stranger's name beside them so that I can blame someone else for my insecurities.

I’ll borrow the past With nothing to spare
Nothing to give, and nothing to share
But rather I’d hope to steal my youth
And run from the future back to you
Some place we could hide in the shade of today
And disappear before a new day
And I know that when I’ll open my eyes
another day would have passed me by
You’ll only be a memory never to last
So instead I’ll keep dreaming of borrowing the past

To dance under this broken moon
Is when speckled stars and old fascinations
Come together to put back pieces you
Shining a light on this midnight blue
That infuses your wounds

Ten thousand years can't save you now
So, leave behind this moonlight melancholy
Find the hands of those you've loved
Those that hold you in their eyes
Hold onto them,

In the empty space you used to breathe

I don't sit in these minutes.
Wondering how and why
I fall into a motion, mindlessly
Opening cabinets of half-made
Half-done, half-finished things
Opening and closing
Yesterday and today
Just opening and closing
Until it starts to make sense
Until this loss fills in the cracks and these half-things, this half me,
find a resolution to seal these doors shut

With my feet above the graves
I can see the ghosts of good laughs
And the souls of endless tears
The hearts that beated for each other's arms
But it's the sound of recklessness that swallows me,
Every other passerby looking to be free
To linger in the shadows of evils retreats
I heard them from far calling across the sea
I saw all the faces of hopeful need
Lost in the rubble are all of their screams
I can hear them calling out to me
Because what you can hear is what you can't see.

Dear capricious heart,
I’m sorry for leaving you at the door step of my past self.
I know you’re built with wings that can’t take you to the sky,
But I was made of broken bones, my identity split between a continental divide,
And I was yearning for the moment that I’d come to terms with ambiguity.

Now I feel at ease,
knowing you’ve found comfort in the changing of the seasons,

And I have conquered the impossible task of hearing you beat without apprehension

Where did the sunlight go
that we used to lace between the
gaps in our fingers?

Remember how we would make threads
from the light and tie them to our
hopes to string them along as we'd navigate
our childhood dreams?

All I can think about
Are the things we would do
If I had moved the mountains
That buried you
I pieced you back together
With shrapnel from the glass
Stained with the pigment
From under my eyes  
Restless from this rustling wind
Anxious and bitter cold
I feel like the whistle
That rings in your ear
As you lay there
Under the weight
Of broken words  
Trying to forget the sunrise
That looms too close
With your sleep captive
In its marmalade palm

These years, they ask us questions
answers that tomorrow never knows,
held in the arms of yesterday.
The weight of this dreaming
pushes the clouds onto the ground
and our fleeting conversations
with this flooding rain
breaks the boats we built
that were already too unfit
for this ocean between the clocks we build
and the time we chase

We run through golden drops of sunlight
with reminders tied around our wrists
memories in baskets of woven wind
Tomorrow chases us
as we chase yesterday
The synchronicity of our steps
becomes the rhythm of time
lost in the streets of reality
while navigating maps of wonder
our lives are repelling forces
that now face the immobility
of our desire for freedom
so what's left? Besides you
running toward this morning sky
and me, sinking in a shallow sea
of words and puzzles, that time built for
you and I

It's the big cities that fascinate me
But then ruins are the sights to see
The dark lit corners
With broken shards of mourners
Loud car horns
Who bite at your feet with thorns
Bursting with their party voices
Made of rich history and choices
Small talk on the engines
Stories poking you like pins
Of running traffic lights
With power at the peak of heights
Something like a aurora borealis
They speak of this
A city of lights and wonders
Shaking from the roar of thunder
Twinkling like stars on the ground
The whispers can be heard from the ashes that lay around.

I’ve travelled to places where darkness lives ,
Places where sunrise has never been witnessed,
Navigating dark corners of navy blue mazes,
Night skies colour the ground with unfiltered darkness,
Rocky paths lined with slivers of moonlight,
But somewhere underneath the starless sky,
Is a city scape that lights the places where the sun doesn’t rise,
When the people smile together and unleash their joy,
The stars start to glimmer like simple reflections,
And slowly the sun starts to rise once again.

Awake, I’m in my senses
The drowsiness has disappeared
The light colours my skin
As I walk towards tomorrow
All my thoughts and prayers
Are now in the palm of my hand
I’ll bring them with me every step I take
And I’ll never forget yesterday,
But tomorrow is where I should be
This time I’ll take the stars
Run with the lights
Cross the rivers, and fly above the sea
To get to you,
tomorrow.

Colour blooms
Onto a canvas of black-and-white impressions
Left behind are brush strokes from the blues and greys
Overlayed are the yellows and pinks
Flowers drift left and right
A sunset glows until dark
Transforming into midnight bokeh
With every blink, something new
A painter paints
A thousand places all here at once
A thousand dreams
A thousand wonders
All here, in the colour of you

My eyes are just a translation,
For you to understand my mind,
For you to see the colors speak,
My thoughts are a foreign language,
And when you're around my eyes, my thoughts,
They get a whole lot more colourful....

I live amongst the shadows
Lurk in shades of black
Keep my voice echoed
And leave my heart upon my back
Because my heart beats in cages
And yearns to be free
But if it weren't for my ribs
Then I wouldn't have been me
I live amongst the people
The ones with open eyes
They sleep in the shadows
And I bathe in their lies
and when the sun is shining
We hide under the clouds
Because a place so perfect
Is a place we're not allowed
So if you come looking
We would never be found
As we're locked in our cages
And our hearts are unbound

Beautiful sea breeze
How quickly you become a storm
You’re built of resilience
You bring with you an entourage
Of silver lining and moon tides
Sailor’s boats and lighthouse guides

Yet you still shy away from burning bridges
That monsters love to cross

Here we are at a crossroads
Separated by clouds of silence
We've exchanged laughs, stories, and condolences
You carried your virtues on your back
And I held my shortcomings in my hands
The horizon calls out your name
Waking the moon that sleeps in your eyes
Your light has guided us through the midnight grey
And this trail winds down to a story's end
Fireflies guide you home toward the moonlit sea
Where thoughts and prayers take the shape of water
And boats built from your benevolence
Take you to rest with the roots of your dreams
As I accompany the fog through woven forests
I echo your humming in this silent night
Building the distance that was written to be
I walk, lost in reflection, toward an unknown


And quietly,
my soul follows you home

You stand at a crossroads
unsure of where to step
the night is too dark
The day is always accompanied by fog
at a street corner marked by time
Where moonlight collides with your midnight blues

With the sun invested in your patience,
You get so cold when you are breaking
So silence and I exchange nonsensical chats
as silence waits to draw the curtains
and I wait for you to handover your ache
to my extended hand

Dear old me
I know how the future seems
As if time has you wringing out every last drop
Wondering if minutes spent are hours worth
But here we are
One crossroad after the other
You've taken paths paved
And those never walked
You've breathed in clouded air
And have gotten lost in the fog
You have climbed mountains
And descended valleys
You've seen clear skies
And cried with the rain
You may never know what's next; not even I do
But no matter where you think you'll go
Every tunnel you'll collide with
Always has a way through
Forwards and onwards
You'll make your way toward me
And I'll keep walking too

The best of your days,
spent in vast fields of memorabilia.
Golden drops of sunset rain,
wash over your haste,
and you reach out for the hidden starlight,  
to rewrite the melodies of your broken heart.

Little signs
Waiting at the airport
Watching planes fly
You and I
And this dying sunlight
I’ve been looking for trees
Forests, green
You have been chasing seas
Everything blue and never seen
So, what are we to do,
With this continental divide?
Your arrival
Is my departure time
Your goodbye
Is sunrise
On the other side
Of the world
That lays asleep
Between
You and I