This silent bird sings a melancholic tune
Takes flight - hurtling to the deadly skies dripping with moonlight
Fearful and blind - the bird doesn't care this time
Alive or dead - I've locked it up for life

For years - the chains sank deep through her heels
She can no longer walk on her frail feet
Unable to beat the breeze with the flutter of her wings
The bird has flown against all adverse conditions

Blizzards, storms, and meandering squalls don't give her pause
She has found a life in the journey
Through hurt and pain, she's melded herself to take on
So take on the world

Would it please you to cheat death?
Cause I'm glad she escaped from this cage
And you'll think of me when the little bruises creep up
Your heart will become invincible

With the sheer might of the soul that secures her world
A world that was drained of joy and purpose
The lark dove past the shadows - unguarded by shackles
Dark figures lurk in the woods - killing the trespassers

The moment you escaped, you'd left the cold bars
Of a warm, beating heart
But I'm glad you escaped because you'll bleed dry
More than you ever have

A lull hangs over the trees - a forgotten shell of a vibrant heart
Till a breeze shuffles its feet in the warm earth
Fragile red leaves crackle and fall from the vein-like branches
The silence hangs like a cursed soul

I'm glad she escaped from a corpse
Searching far and wide for a pulse of a stream
Reminding her of the fierceness of youth
This body reeks of a stench that deters the living

Her nerves are weak
A bleeding war rages in the heart
She's running and running out of blind rage
I know she's tormented by the taste of freedom

But I know she'd rather be caged and preyed upon
By leering wolves that hunt her for game and hang her dry
From the branches of the disturbed trees under the moon
I know she escaped and it is my loss

But she's possessed by blind fear that breaks the spirit
In the darkest hours of the night, she plays with the blade
Twirls the thoughts in her head like bullets in a gun
Left ******* and naked by the relentless onslaught of pain

It is the inner doom that she has to soar beyond
And so do I - I've forgotten you and I'm glad I found solace
You can't shatter me with your words because there is a power
In holding tight the heart every time joy walks in

In our best moments
When we gain some control over our lives
An old friend reminds us
There's no grand escape

Pen touches paper
All I write is still your name
My heart stays the same

What I fear the most
Is being not enough for the world.
I tell myself every day:
You are trying. It’s not easy.
Be kind—it’s the mindset.

Alas, I fail.

I didn’t care for my mother.
I don’t understand my father.
I idolize my brother
And refuse to fall for a stranger.

Where will I go now?
Maybe to the mountains.
The fear creeps in again:
The mountains are too big, and I am too small.

I’ll try again.

I’ll go to the sea.
The salt will be enough.
I might catch this wave—no, that wave.
My fingers slip through it all.

I will hold your hand, maybe,
While you show me what’s yours.
I think I’m scared of being the dark,
The same dark you are afraid of.

Darling. Babe. I might call you these names.
I fear I won’t be enough for you.
I hope you’ll help.
I hope you’ll wait.

I hope you’ll have time.

I saw you today.
Your shoulders filled the frame.
Your eyes looked like pools of hope.
I looked away every three seconds,
pinched myself—
Is this real?

I spoke to you yesterday.
We laughed.
Intimacy is scary.
The faceless souls on the internet
make me feel safe.

They don’t know how I look,
how my hair flies everywhere.
It’s easier, you see.
They’ll never see my thighs,
or squirm at my nose.
But you—
you will see it all.

You are the sun,
and I am the moon.
I’m scared of the eclipse.
When everyone photographs it,
I stay hidden under covers.

How can I tell you?
How can I tell you
about the dreams and demons?
You are so bright—
I’m scared I won’t help the shine.

I have played this game before.
My accolades adorn the walls.
This pull-push dance is tiring.

This time,
when I see myself
being pulled into the whirlpool—
I let it.

Drown me, baby.
Show me how love works.

I’ll wait for the little things:
the stolen glances,
the awkward silence.

I hope you are the other end,
your arms stretched out.
I want to run to you
and tell our daughter:

This is what love is.

I will tell her—
someday, a man will come.
And when you set out
to write about sorrow,
you will smile,
thinking of his warmth.

Trees - miles of gold on a cold autumn day
Outline
The meadow
Tracing leaf-like patterns on the pale grass

Flowers sit at the foot of chinar
Looking to the sun
Peering from the cloudless sky
Upon those sleepy petals

Soon the trees
Will shed their cracked, brittle leaves
To make way
For such a pleasant scene, yet again