Branched between two oaks
I took it all in
the water, the open breeze
blended it all together
with the feeling of emptiness
and poured it into the ground
where the sun never goes
where things never grow
where the earth is barren
until something splits wide open
maybe it's the ground
or a feeling of living

Shades of burnt orange and saffron
in clusters between the clouds,
the coolness of the atmosphere
brought ease to my swollen eyes
the bitterness on my tongue washed away
as if caramel was poured into the sky,
sweetness inhabited my lungs
and I uttered...

سُبْحَانَ الله

I wondered where you were and who was I
And whether I would see the skies through different eyes
If birds were flying over our destiny
Would the sun still colour you like you colour me
Would the rain skip your steps and leave you dry
Or drench me in the cosmic catastrophe that is your dream
I’ve asked the sunset to linger a few minutes longer
So that I could see the colours reflect on to your face
Take a thousand picture of your smile and forget what it meant to blink for awhile
I’ll give away my breath to your heart, to keep it beating for you whilst we’re apart
And when the night starts to go black
The stars will twinkle bright and guide you back
I guess this is a final goodbye from me
Just remember to feel alive and
Keep your ears open for they’ll tell our story
And call it “the day when the wind parted from the sea”

Your words rival the rain that washes the dust of yesterday off the streets,
They pull flocks of birds towards your speech,
And like maps of the largest cities
I dwell on them for days hoping to uncover every corner,
Even the petals of blooming flowers
Fly away prematurely to follow the words that rest on your tongue,
Because when you speak you pierce the atmosphere
With paper planes folded by your wisdom.
Your words are pungent, like mosaics of foreign colour,
They rest upon the palette of a dreamy painter,
Wistful in colour, even when you haven’t spoken at all.

With my head rested
against the shoulder
that sits between each breath
between each little heart beat

With my head rested
against the wind
that flows between
the inhales and exhales
of this little life

‭I fell in love with words ‬
‭The ones that linger on your tongue ‬
‭The ones that colour your eyes ‬
‭And shy away from your voice ‬
‭Words that turn stale when they are left out in the sun ‬
‭And come to life when sapphire colours the sky ‬
‭And I wish to feel your words, to speak them‬
‭Steal them from your mind ‬
‭You have so much to say, but you’re still too shy ‬
‭And so the flowers start to wilt ‬
‭As they thirst for the thoughts in your eyes ‬
‭Because when you speak you bring rain for the droughts ‬
‭..............................................................­............‬

‭Oh beautiful soul, your face is not what defines you ‬
‭I won’t fall in love with the colours on your skin ‬
‭But rather with the letters on your tongue ‬
‭The ones that my heart loves to sing ‬
‭So never shy away, your speech is your soul ‬
‭I love you for your words, they make me feel whole ‬

Your sadness is a beautiful thing
It follows you with the glow of a million fireflies
Compelling the wind to abandon the trees
To carry my hands toward your own
And it pulls the sea away from its shore
To follow the ray of light
That seeps through your wounds

You sit on your porch swing, miles away
Making shapes out of streetlights
Dancing in the dark
Looking for remnants of a red sun
Chasing after silver moonlight
A pen in your hand
Poetry on your tongue
But the wind catches sight of you,
Carrying the words away  
And everything remains unspoken

I miss the sweetness of writing
When words would untangle these corroded arteries
And bring relief to the pain left behind
By the dying starlight

I dust off recollections of our past
Dressed in all black
Stretching my limbs into a new atmosphere
Remembrance is pinned onto my beating heart

If I ask you to hold my hand
And walk me through this dark tunnel
Would you become the flicker of light
That I dream of at night?

There is a canvas made of broken sky
Covered in dust left behind by the sunset
Pigments swirl in these hopeful hands
I crave to paint, write, and leave behind colorful impressions

But these words have inhabited
The rivers of blood within me
And they flow from thought
To dream
To lungs
To sky,
sea,
and breeze
Then
All the way
Back to me

If I could look to the stars
And find my way to a dream
Then I could stop time
And float away towards the sea
But every time I run
I see the hopeless disguise
The one your eyes tend to wear
When the night begins the scare
And you fade away into darkness
I search for you in the wind
But you’re never to be seen
Like a hidden constellation
Under a cloudy sea
You shine down like the sun
I can never catch your eyes
And when night takes you away
I chase the sunrise
Hoping to look you in the face
And hold my hand out for you to take
But you keep rising to new heights
Leaving me stranded, nearly blind
So I take that hopeless wonder
Put on your favourite disguise
Run towards the sea and take flight
Towards a never ending summer
One where you’ll be, waiting with stars
Somewhere for me

I call out to you.
And the solemness in your broken irises
I call out to the dust on your hands
That sparkles when your tears fall onto them
How many battles have you fought?
How many times did you run from the rain?
Only to let the wind catch your hair
Like the kites above Kabul streets
How many hopeless dreams turned into nightmares?
Where heartbeats turned into the unspeakable silence
That follows the crushing of the world
Beautiful girl, you bleed out.
And I wonder how I can stop the bleeding
But my bandages can’t wrap your wounds
For they run deeper than the ground
And your child-like laughter
Filled with more life than any man
Echoes in the streets of Kabul
I call out to you
And I hear your silence
As it deafens the world

It's just you here
With this open wind

And a thought that craves to be embraced
By the arms of a voice daring enough
To bring it out into the open

It's just you here
With a beating heart harmonizing with the sea

Among waves of silenced love
and whispers of forgotten dreams
That colour this terracotta sand

It's just you here
Under the broken sky

A crying heart calls out to you
Looking for consolation
So, you put your hand on your chest.

Reminding it,
It's just you here

And you are alive