she wore her heart,
on a tattoo sleeve.
her feelings inked,
all a jumble.
from poetry,
to lyric art.
these words
she couldn't mumble.

eyes almost dead,
glistening with tears,
not one emotion read.
her lips sealed shut,
******* knot,
no words could be said.

she wore her heart,
on a tattoo sleeve,
and this was how she lived.
hoping one day,
she'd get the love,
the same she freely gives.

so much passion but it hurts so bad
when i leave your bed i cant get you out of my head
but i keep to myself for fear of rejection
i only want to be with you but you wont show me the affection
you seem to have this hold on me i just cant shake free
so i write until these emotions will let me be
at least until the next time you text me

Centuries far ago
In the African state of Congo
Trespassed by the heartless whites
Civilizing the blacks, against their rights

They invaded them under a false pretence
They shattered humanism’s true essence
Several men decayed, as malnourished
For being skinned in charcoal colour they were punished

The invaders sowed the seeds to racism
It grew larger using euphemism
It all spread like a malicious talk
Darkness bowed when the white flesh would walk

Subjugated with iron chains the slaves marched
With empty stomachs and throats parched
Killed unmercifully if they refused a task
After all, the devil resided behind the white mask
They looted several nations
Leaving behind schools and railway stations
But who would benefit from development of this kind?
In the darkness, hearts had turned blind

Oh, one day back then it all changed
Hearts pumped louder through the ribs that were caged
Unleashing those iron chains they chased;
Till those heartless masters felt disgraced

The dark cloak of slavery burnt to dust
While freedom of sunshine sparkled on all the rust
Each enslaved human fought for what is right
No one could dare to break their might

Blood was shed on both sides
But they didn’t cease their stride
Back then they made them flee
But those racist seeds flew across seas

The darkness never prevails
From one land to another it sails
Only the goodness in one’s soul,
Can take the darkness for a toll!


-Zainab Attari

i've got paper cuts from every passing chapter
i belong to no one
and no one belongs to me
i see it as feeling free
with something still missing
and with what do we fill these painful voids?
we fill our emptiness with the presently absent soul of another
both moving through the different passing energies with one another
while sharing secrets and our softest skin
sharing feelings and inspirations and visions within
and then when the void finally overflows and heals
why do so many people then walk away?

There is an entire world
Of mine
Waiting for another world
To combine

There is a huge list
Of to do things
But they can only fly
When I find the matching wings

There are empty diaries
To be filled
About that someone
Who would have my loneliness killed

There are journeys to be made
With romance in the air
A heart on my sleeve
Kissing away with no care

There are gifts and letters
Waiting to be found and wrote
There is a whole feeling of love
Urging to be expressed in my poems or quotes

Words are eager to be spoken
Mean and lovely ones
Those sarcastic comments
And intended puns.

There are plans
Expecting a change
There is a future
Waiting to exist in exchange

There is hope and belief
About my destiny
There is a prayer
For solving the mystery

I’m waiting patiently
And I don’t cease to live
Just need to find that one person…
In return, I have a lot to give.

-Zainab Attari

Shake dreams from your hair
My pretty child, my sweet one.
Choose the day and
choose the sign of your day
The day’s divinity
First thing you see.
A vast radiant beach
in a cool jeweled moon
Couples naked race down by it’s quiet side
And we laugh like soft, mad children
Smug in the woolly cotton brains of infancy
The music and voices are all around us.
Choose, they croon, the Ancient Ones
The time has come again
Choose now, they croon,
Beneath the moon
Beside an ancient lake
Enter again the sweet forest
Enter the hot dream
Come with us
Everything is broken up and dances.

You plant me
In your garden of love.
But why choose me
When there are so many to pick from?
I'm just a lonely flower.
No company to be found.
I water myself with my tears.
So just let me be and let me drown.
I'm just a dark flower.
No color is present here.
I just sit here and worry.
Let me dwell in all my fear.
I'm just a sick flower.
I'm not like all the rest.
I sit here and hurt myself.
And that's my only quest.
I'm just a hurt flower.
With scars to tell my past.
But also present day too.
That old day was not the last.
But I, the lonely, dark, sick, and hurt,
Will try to stand above.
For you love me so dearly,
And forever hold me in your garden of love.

Love isn't on a white horse
With a Knight in shinning armor
Gallivanting through daisies
And beating the odds against
Countless demons and foes

Love is her curled up next to me
Fueled with an anger over
Something I said two weeks ago
But she still decides to turn around
And tuck herself under my wing and forgive

Love isn't meeting someone
At a party and after a few
Drinks and chasers deciding
Heading back to my house
Is a brilliant idea

Love is feeding me peanut butter
And trapping me inside for the night
Just to play piano for me
Closing the windows and locking the doors
Blocking out the world for a while

Love isn't money coming from
An over fed wallet
Handing me cash whenever I please
Paying our way into each others hearts
Bribing love and lust

Love is tangled hair and
Mustard stained sweat pants
With a baggy shirt and no bra
Kissing me like I mean the world
Because to someone for once I do

Love isn't fighting every night
Tooth and claw
Using every past mistake as a bullet
To fill the chambers of
A gun forged on hatred

Love is rubbing my back when
My anxiety swallows me
And she lets me cry in her car
Because it's a safe place
For her and I

And I know Love for a fact
Is perfect in every imperfect way
And love will tolerate all my panics
All my stress and all of my
Self hatred

Because Love is laying right next to me
And I know I love Love because I think
The sun shines out of her ***
Even when Love is mad at me

I love Love