First crush
Last love
There is no in-between

Why does poetry have to be shallow?
We will look for another planet soon enough
From ridge to valley, pastures facing the constant plough
Soon the California fires will be put out by the dying hours

We will change up the entire planet
From country to country, and we will barely recognize Brooklyn
Under the stars or the sun as none will be seen in oblivion
And humans would dream big, doing little to change things

We could take the signs as they are
But, the diplomacy-the international dream- runs so deep!
Are we trying to scheme ourselves out of the consequence
By ignoring the battle we have at hand, claiming false innocence

Are we calling an impending doom with our actions?
Does the eternal river of Styx turn green in the next century
Or do we continue to choose between Scylla and Charybdis
Making the wrong choices, ashamed of our previous decisions

The tree that once offered shade
Its leaves freefall my way
The winter hasn't changed itself

How can they be so free in their sway?
And my flowers linger for the canopy
Nature is mysterious in her ways

The summer's warmth is awaited patiently
Yet so is the winter cool
No leaves for cover nor forests for shelter

I have spent battling the winter blues
And the ceaseless storms
Then why must I wait for the truth

Just because I love you
Should I wait for fate to open its arms
So, you can too

For all the right reasons
I wait for you
With each season

Do you want to bloom on the mud?
Or have it easier on the ocean?
You will regret being on the surface
You can grow with me in marshes

I'll let you stay with me
He just wants to keep you
He'll touch you when he wants
I'll catch you when you fall

I know the guy, he'll never take you back
I can never let you leave, that's what I lack

The melancholic grin of the old
As the cold hurts the inner soul
Crumbles the bones of the bowed legs
Aspirin, ******, and saccharin

Puncture wounds of a snake that bit you
My friend, have you lost
Your battle with the truth
Can't you face the reality of addiction

Cheers, cheers, cheers
With another beer
Look at how society leers at you
You warm-hearted tool.

I walked into her apartment, her hands I held
Her hands were boney, sinewy, and weakly curled
Around mine
She had a good life

Among the lamp shade and sewing tools
Carelessly strewn, I held her head on mine
I cried out my lungs
Imagine my surprise when she spoke

She wanted to live
Because life was full of passion
And friends should not be set aside
For death can always sit beside in silence

Her scent filled the room
Fragrance that reminded me of fresh air
The windows were open
She had let out a sigh with rising sun

Her eyes twinkled like the oceanic green
Stars paled in comparison to such sheen
Death never looked so serene
On a face

She told me, "There's no coming back."
I left her on the door for what I lacked
The human touch she once prayed for
She no longer needed, inside was a war

Untouchable.

Her tears gushed like spring water
But, in her heart it felt like a drop in a desert
She needed to cry at the alter
No more ceaseless longing, she could assert her will

She could finally let me go, she had snapped
The genesis of change had begun
The wind carried me away
I have never spoken her name

Untouchable.

Once you move on, this song will be yours
The memories I left behind will falter
Tomorrow will offer the same promise
To people deserving a love like yours

With each ephemeral second, you drift further
But, the right guy always appears closer
I wish you could see the wound inside me
But, I'm glad I could set you free

I see that the gems that are hardest to find
Are worth the journey after a while
I hope you find these words I left behind
I hope you get the guy, you always liked

The eyes drenched in the blue of an ocean
Sun kissed lips that were calm like its water
I saw the age in her well preserved innocence
She was precious as a child

Her tale was so vivid, I would listen to it
For hours and hours, till the clock had no meaning
She'd stare at me and wish away my existence
Take me from place to place with her childish lines

She could weave a month into poems
Her spontaneous mind would turn the seasons to seconds
I'd seen love take a new form
Little by little, she'd turn ecstasy into tragedy

I know the trees provide the shade
I know that the birds leave their cage
Her memory is like the warmth of the sun
A look from her I can only crave

She offered me a cup of tea on a cold day
I know the liquid is meant to quench my thirst
I know love is the medicine
For the hunger that shall never fade

The road back home is beautiful

Sun shining warmly in May

With trees overhead in sway

Why do I hide in the shadows?


I have people who remember me

They understand my needs

I can't trust them anymore

So, why do I want her?


I circle the city

I look for a seat on the subway

I sit across an empty seat that reminds me

I still play with her hands in my head


I have tried every street and nook

Read through every book

Hoping for a word or sentence

That won't remind me of her

Smile like the pale moon
It illuminates the night
Even better than the sun

Be an ocean of knowledge
Be calm on the surface
Create waves when a storm approaches

I want to tell her she's pretty
In her own magical way
I've stopped wearing my heart on my sleeve
She's on my mind every day

I want to tell her she's a river in the desert
I've forgotten the words to say
That'll make her believe in me
I've never seen such grace

I've stopped dreaming of us holding hands
When she looks at me, my mind goes numb
My fingers lose feeling in that heated moment
I wish I could tell her how much I need her

Can you be the fire to my wood?
I'd love to take you out for a cup of tea
But, you seem like a woman meant for caramel coffee
Maybe, you aren't just meant for me

Hence, we weren't a pair to be
You had to make it three

Where does your heart settle?
Do you speak my name in your dreams?
I know you are made for me
Then why leave me for another

Is love too much to ask?
Or do you fear the spring will last
The seasons may change, my love won't
Your mysteries are ever-expanding

Like the endless starry, starry sky

The breathing of our bodies
I hear your skin dripping with sweat
In your whispers, I hear the clearest eddies
You seem unsteady

You write your name on my lips
The softest kisses come in spring when
The ground is wet with rain and mist
You seem ready

Did you know
That lighting a fire
In the forest would
Burn it to the ground?

Did you know
That spilling oil in the ocean
Would ****
The dolphins and fishes?

Don't hurt someone
You don't understand
If you seek to destroy
Find someone else, this heart is done broken now

Inspiration is that gut feel keeping you awake
Inspiration is a candle in a cave

Inspiration is asking a crush out
Inspiration is confidence when everything turns sour

Inspiration is the silver lining
Of a cloud riddled by self-doubt

I never stopped giving in
To the demands of a friend
Because I couldn't give up on them

I want to curl
In a tree, drying
Listening to the breeze

Crawling in the streets, lacking confidence
Driving past the rusted street signs, dead-ends
Running from the law, without defense
Lost in a city blinded with dust and sin
A country haunted by broken promises

So why does my heart beat faster?
When do I rush past the guns shoved in our ribs?
Why does your intimidation weaken my knees?
Don't grab me by my hair in the town square
Just take my life away in a heartbeat, I can't take it

I can hear my heart, balancing a fine line
Between courage and trust, all faith in Allah
You taught me how to fight a war like a general
With the world, as I fought with my adolescent self
It's a balancing act that most ******* funambulists fail

With ****** in my veins, I killed myself twice
A million ways you could've brought vindication
And saved us from violation and intimidation
Sheltered us from lunacy, terrorism, and vice
All we have is broken promises and crime around me

If you pursue a flower
With the aim to pluck
You cannot appreciate the scent

I think I can say that
You cannot be a friend to her
If you think about possessing her beauty

I grow older, deadlier, and sicker
I want the rosebuds that live
And they grow prickly
I need to live

I need to feel the fresh spring air
The youthful side of me needs it
I have learned to cherish
Tomorrow, tomorrow

Finally?

Laid sprawling in the sheets
Broken and beaten like the leaves
Under the foot of a tree
I never gave up

Tied to the fences
Like a scarecrow amidst the storm
Hung like a conjured cloud
Overhead: addiction

Rehab was a broken place
I needed a place to rest
So, I slept off the drugs
And got up the next day sober

Sunshine, daisies, tulips kept waiting
Hugs, kisses, and girls were promises
I only wanted my life back
It lay behind the gate that stayed shut

Rehab was a broken place
I needed to live my life
So, I forgot the drugs
I sleep off life's problems, brighter tomorrow

He was easy as a breeze on the outside
He had a raging storm inside
Busy searching for the stop signs
And the turns kept passing him by

Come set me in stone
Whatever you have to do
Do it alone

Search in the wind
Look at the sky
Find me again
You need to try

There's pain there
I can see it stare
Watch it, man
You don't care

You're on the other side of town
What's on your mind
Tell me about

Between the walls of sound
I can only hear
But, you can't scream
And shout

I know the pain's there
You just don't say
Watch it, man

Baby
If it's a problem, tell me
I wish I could have seen you fade.
I would move the heavens.

To have you back
I just didn't do anything about it
It was something I couldn't fix
I needed you to change

Please, stay just the same
We're on the opposite ends
Of spectrum

I have seen your gloomy eyes
They notice the stars in the skies
But, they float on the dark circles under them

When I ignore that barren ocean
Of your empty eyes
That reflects a heart full of emotion

I see you have traveled lands far and wide
Only to find someone who isn’t as starved
Of light

If you want to soar in the clouds
Like a lonely feather
I will cut my broken wings

If you want to drink from the deepest ocean
Like a lion that has crossed the desert
I will show you an oasis

If you want all of my love
I will give you
All that you want because I love you

Like a cracking piece of terracotta sculpted by fingertips
Her wrinkled hands were woven with his spirit

Instagram sculptor by day
Poetess by night

An activist
Shapeless, without fault, clothed in independence

Never accepted by they/their parents

Do you remember?
We once smoked a spliff
On the terrace, fantasizing
Barely thinking about the world

And life came crashing down
And a phantasmagoria of colors
Became a black and white picture
That I shared with myself from then on

All that was left was my sobriety
A lemonade, coffee, and bitter orange peel
You, instead, had bitten into a meringue of stimulants
By then, you had left the world for some solace

I really have no future here
In your arms, in your veins
I can feel the heat near your skin
But, your embrace is just what I need

I shouldn't receive this
It is too beautiful for words
To describe, so I will say goodbye
To my existence wiped away with a kiss

I really have no future
Hello, did you miss me?
I am back again after we made love
Under the pale moonlight

And the romance was thick with smoke
And the rain poured like it was June
But, it was as young as January
It was cold and the winter had just arrived

Did you miss my smell?
Was it in the air when you sighed
Thinking of how I once was your guy
I have no future here without you

We have once stretched ourselves
Like paper boats under the rain
And this soft heartbeat remains afloat
While keeping a dying ember in vain

The warm fire crackles and flickers
And a cat curls near the empty hearth
Close to where there once were soft whispers
The echoes dwell near my throbbing heart

I'm looking at the thin lines of the firewood
That opens and bursts at the fire's slightest touch
And what is left from time's tide, passed by
Lays strewn under the hearth, burning in the fire

Yet, I still remember your complexion
And my heart rebels against all logic
But, as it cannot overcome time's roughness
It chooses to preserve your shapeless words in black ink

The skill of a writer, his abilities
Are found in how well he can show and tell
The sun shining through the canopy
In a rare sea cone, the wind nestling

The immensity of the broken heart
Can only be found in his ruby redness
And the frigidity of his thorny stem
With a delicate rose covered in rain

I often found shortness of sluttish time
Can be felt in my restless, urgent lines
Moving beyond foolish rhymes with strict meter
Preserved in every cup of similes and minutes

Myself present in every metaphor
The hours may pass without a word for her

The saddest part about caring
Is when the other person doesn't
Understand why they make you happy

Family y'know feels nice
I know this is what life
Has led up to or culminated in
A suspense thriller, a job, an income

I have let go of the fast life
Drugs, liquor, and cigarettes
And exchanged it for a slow poison
A beauty in bed, two children, groceries that last a week

Three pounds of butter in the fridge
I have kept in there, so that she burns
It slowly on the stove
Covering my pancakes with it

I feel good, I haven't felt this way
The cars, trucks, and rickshaws move
All pass my way and the stares of the nearby folk
Mix with the bedlam, I can see a lovely lady's heavy gait

It is all clear to me
That I am married to all of these things
And I cannot divorce myself from my chores
Washing dishes and cleaning the floor, a poor metaphor I know

Soon I'll go home to the countryside
Swing from a hammock in the careless breeze
Before I swing under a fan with a noose around my neck
They'll say, he died, but what a shame.

He's no man if he cannot swallow the poison
Day by day

This is all I need
To keep you here
My world is empty
Without your embrace

Where goes the sun
It wishes for someone

On a golden ring

It's okay as long as it is love
But, it hurts and it's no surprise
This is too much to deny
But, that's alright

How much can I hide
There is so much to say
What is going on inside
Is a lover game

On a golden ring

I hoped genuinely
That we could be friends
But, you want someone else
As your friend.

Breakup?
Breaking apart
Falling apart
Moving on unsuccessfully

Don't underestimate me
For I show very little emotion
But inside there is an ocean
That can flood lands, but let out a few helpless tears

Everything has a soul
Can fly and set sail, find its own
Wings- paper planes, plastic bags, and school skirts
Carried by the wind, dampened by fears

It is in our eyes full of tears
That they find meaning and purpose
In their flight that won't go on for years
God keeps us on our toes safe from our foes

Cradled in my arms
Curls falling in the sleeping streets
Of my legs
I have fallen for your charms

Let the sun embrace the heart's darkness
As the cars move past the journey of your life
You hear every bump of the road and feel every turn
As the light shines through

When the Sun shows up
Its light drives straight to my heart
And twists and turns of life
Will never drive us apart

Take a subject
And make it human
And the concept is accessible to the public
That is wisdom

Press your ears against her
Heart
And tell the world she was beautiful
With yours

It is frightening
So, I say don't give in to the inner critic
Spend it praying tomorrow

Love can be beautiful
Accept it
The heart needs direction

The heart is foolish
It just loves
Give it a brain to rely on

What once made up the moments
That brought us so much joy
Become a blur
And no one is to blame for that

Just accept you were wrong

Rushing through the days, tomorrow anew
Your voice never falters, just reading
Through newspapers too

Your constant digging at my emotions
Searchin' for an underlying problem
The nights are the same, we laugh again?

Sleepless, on the extremes of the bed
On the opposites ends of the world
The curtains kiss the wind, why don't we?