-

you remind me of home

the way your eyes look down
when you walk
but straight into mine
when you talk
you listen
to me
attentively
and that's more
than i can say
for anyone
on any day
you ask me
about my family
about my heart
about my hurt

and then there's the silence

you put on my favorite song
and close your eyes
you say nothing
you said nothing
you didn't touch me
or offer to
you stayed close enough
for comfort
and far enough
for peace
you let the music
tell me it was
going to be okay

the other day
you told me about your family
how you just lost your home
i understood

you remind me of home

you make jokes in arabic
attempt to speak urdu
make fun of english
your accent is
local enough to
understand
it is foreign enough
to love.

let's eat maggi noodles
and talk about life

let's sing simple songs

i think of you
and i think
soft
soft
soft.
i think soft.

let's stay far enough
for it to not hurt
let's stay close enough
for it to not hurt

you remind me of home
you remind me of home
you remind me of home

-

you said you loved me
then you left

you said you loved me
then you left

but your love was based on a condition that lacked appreciation, but rather possession
and when it occurred to you that i could not be plucked from the ground and hung upside down to dry from your ceiling
you said you loved me
and then you left

your desire for my life outweighed your desire for my heart
i let you see into my core, underneath my skin and my bones
to my undertones and i loved you more

you said you loved me, but when I decided that I was my own, you lifted your eyes above me, and decided your love was meant to leave me alone

you were my best friend
you said you loved me
and then you left

the easy way out was always the thing i love for all the wrong reasons. don't you know you should never ride the wave? you end up being bruised and pulled back to the tide to be bruised again. Kiss the cheek that isn't salty to avoid how deep this oceanic void goes. The point is I've always been a pale yellow alone