I am
corn-fed girl of
middle land
glaciers rested here
then chose to stay
melted into the ground
from which stalks sprouted
I am
daughter of floods
on the plains
pioneer of the elementary school prairie
conqueror of the long highways
that stretch from flat horizon
to flat horizon
I am
speaker of tongues
imperfectly
I am
curious
seeking the limbo where
East meets West
I am
austriangermanhungarianslovenianpolishscottishwelshirishspanis­hcomancheiowan
I am

He is
sugarcane sweet boy of
Partition’s land
born on the right side
border still bathed in the blood
of those born in the wrong
He is
son of monsoons
and spider-web trees
longing for his land
visitor of Swat
disparaging long lost tranquility
uprooted, exiled
frequenter of south asian sweets houses
He is
a bad dancer
He is
guiltless in this battle between
East and West
He is
pakistanimultanisiraikidesipunjabi
He is

why does it feel like
whenever I try haikus
they become dead ends

This is a story of two
And how their relationship ensues
They're in mutual like
But neither will strike
A commitment is what he must choose

The tension was too much to handle
This was turning into quite a scandal
It started with head
In his big comfy bed
He made her *** in the light of the candle

The best *** they’ve ever had
She could tell this was getting bad
But he had a big ****
Though he usually came quick
The afterglow made them go mad

Despite all the shared passion
She questioned his *****-call fashion
“Come over and hang out”
Was now a source of doubt
But she could still find some compassion

Like the way he’d come up from behind
And hold her so close, intertwined
She could tell this was prime
And for the first time
She liked a form, but also a mind

If only he knew she’d go for it
They’d **** the world with their charm and wit
He’d keep her on track
And she’d love him back
Can’t he see they’d make a good fit?

Well I guess that is how it goes
When both parties enjoy writing prose
The feelings they hide
Get locked up inside
Their hearts left to decompose

There is
a perpetual hole in my life
where you used to be

And it doesn’t matter if
it’s only been an hour
Or seventeen days
Or seven months
Or three years.
It’s still there.

It has the cruelest consequences.
Even when you’re absent
You’re here with me.
and when I want you to be gone,
You are
but I feel your goneness,
and your absence
becomes a presence.
and not the one I want.

What’s worst is
you’re not dead
Or in a desolate war zone
Or being a good Samaritan
in a third world country;
You live right down the street.
You chose to be a hole
rather than to be
with me.

I might as well save electricity
And just unplug the “no”
of my vacancy sign.

Because there will always be one.