Forgetful dreams, trapped on the pillow of my
bed— tiptoeing thoughts, almost like a ballerina
having a good stretch. As an injured picture frame
hauls away the canvas of a dream on a stretcher.
Giving pretence for a pretender—and knowing
whether the weather decides to jump over your
head, is knowing when it has a spring in its step.

But it never bends to tender hearts—it only offers
them the work of love. A group of tenders; all their
touches tender, all enlisted in affection’s labor force.
And if it's a compulsory love, we'll love with force.

Cos Love is a chin check sport—and you pay
for it with the protruding part of a chin cheque.
Control, and out-of-control—to the ones living
so remote. But lose that island, and you lose control.
And lose the answer to the power of influence—
and you begin to question what control even means.
Control is part of that… this far, at least, but a life
without risk— is the risk of never having lived.
Because everything you love to do might just be
the very last thing that finally does you in.

Moments of love feel almost medical—
but my patience for it is cold, clinical.
I never meant to overdose, just chasing
comfort in a heavy dose of someone new,
to help me cope.

I try to build a house from broken pieces—
too many to count. I am the empty echo
of a heart still full, but far too loud
to be heard.

Echo...
  Echoes
     fall between the silence of our words,
two awkward breaths apart—trying
to keep it innocent, just as friends,
while our primal skins just want to skip
to the part of just having ***.

It’s the risk of falling in love—
that makes us stumble near the edge.
It’s beautiful. It’s ******* stupid.
It hurts. It’s love.
Whether it finds you first, as the one
you need— or shows up last, as the one
you never really wanted.

thought you
had a good
thing goin'—

but all that's
left is
you, alone.

you spent time
finding the right one—
but the right one
never made it home.

you thought
you'd give it
one more try—

but love was
harder to chase
than fame,

and all that
remained
were fading echoes
of late-night crying.

nobody understood
you then.

nobody
understands you
now.

you think to yourself:
“when will
the next heartbreak
come around?”

you thought
you understood
modern love—

but modern love
doesn’t
understand you.

When I got in the shower,
I noticed that you hung
your washcloth next to mine.
When I realized,
I stared at it for a minute,
feeling a relief that words
can't really assure.

Not exactly rocket science,
but it took me by surprise
to see it hanging there,
reaching over it to grab mine.
When I finished washing,
I rung mine out and hung
it back beside yours,
scooting it over to make sure
there was enough room
for both to hang.

The parts of ourselves
that we try to hide,
welcoming them both
back home.

A small gesture that made me
reconsider not just my day,
but you
softening the distance between us,
at least long enough to shower, dry off,
and see your face when I walk out
the bathroom.
You don't ask for more.
To be honest
It's not about the rags at all.
Just another thing that makes me
Think of you

I want more than a no-deposit love,  
No swipe-right ghosts in AI’s deep mind,  
But roots that grip beneath love’s steadfast streams.

Your touch—a language no algo could define,  
Let our wild and free fingers each explore,
I want more than a no-deposit love,  
No swipe-right ghosts in AI’s deep mind,  

My body yearns for tides, not screen's pale shine—  
Not the mute glow where lost texts ignore,
Each match, a ghost that the void, forevermore—  
I want more than a no-deposit love,  
No swipe-right ghosts in AI’s deep mind,  
But roots that grip beneath love’s steadfast streams.

That message I sent
On a random cosy night
Laying in my bed
And you gave it a sight
From a single dm
To texting every day
Those Long WhatsApp VNs
Gosh we had so much to say
That was all we had
In this modern-day

Maybe I'll never forget
That wink emoji you sent
Nothing ever made me blush
And forget everything that I had to vent

Hugging you for that one last time
Pretending for a moment that you were mine
Life is quite strange these days
Technology holds the power to your smile in so many different ways

For you aren't around now yet
Each memory we shared stays
In my heart and amidst my gallery in a phase
Covering everything from where we ate to where we met

Sometimes I'll stare at the sky
Wondering what would make you smile
Asking my self just the reason why
Are you away from me, a thousand miles

Is this the fate of our lasting bond
one side breaks apart and another one responds
was it the situation or the distance at play
for us not texting each other throughout the day

Maybe expecting that notification is my definite mistake
for not everyone can live up to this false piece of cake
There's not a day where I don't think of you
not an effort gone by where I wish all this was still new

It's strange how quickly special turns to normal these days
what once meant the world to me is now just a blurry haze
Despite all this, I shall keep waiting each day
for you to be back in just the same way

Those Long WhatsApp VNs
Gosh we had so much to say
That was all we had
In this modern-day

Love is a left-mouse click, a flashing prompt,
For the cursor cross of a Crusade that never was,
And the knight who is broken on the scroll wheel,
And the lady in waiting who backspaces from the real.

Finding the right words to articulate our fragmented memories, stained ink and silence to fill the void of your absence;
We became the passive voice of our generation who cannot muster up the courage.
The generation who couldn't face to face challenge the odds and ask you to stop and simply utter, "Stay".
Stay so that we can face the music together.
Stay because it hurts without you.
Stay because it challenges me to fight my battle against the crowd in proving out that
I'll stand by you.
Stay because you're the hand I'd love to hold amidst the crowd.
But silently, the meek voice which couldn't make the right choice,
Still struggling to find terms and conditions in order to address the wound we are silently suffering; deep down where no could see,
How painful it could be!

Open up to me
Slowly
Like apps awakening
Feed me bits of you in colorful rhymes and pictures
Fill me with the files of your life
Even the ones titled miscellaneous
Even the ones titled don’t open unless an emergency
Even the ones that are hidden far back in the files of other files
Be my meme
My posting in the morning to remind me I am the only one
Send me kisses
Real ones
That look like the kinds you see in movie gifs
Let us be each others laptop of loves learning

you have turned my life upside down
and made me change myself.
you have made me cold from inside out
and made me hate myself.
I will not be able to trust now
only because you happened.
I will not be able to love now,
only because we never happened.