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  Jul 2024 Aslam M
Anais Vionet
I sat in restless chairs
I breathed stilted air
what feeling compares
with feeling squandered?

I’m not sadfishing,
I was bored at a 5-star hotel.
I’d swum the Atlantic - in the underground pool
and I felt like I was marinating in boredom.

It was as if the loudest thing in our suite was
the sound of my eyelashes flapping up and down.

I wasn’t in solitary confinement,
Lisa was there too - and just-as bored.
She didn’t complain, 'cause she’s ‘New Yorker’ stoic.
So I started complaining for her - for the team.

We’d filtered every boutique,
sampled every eclectic café,
there’s just nothing to do in Geneva.
It is an implacable reality.

Peter (my bf) was at work all day and we were on vacation.

It’s different when he’s around.
He walks into the room and I feel like
a phone that’s been placed on its charger
- the world lights up and I get - charged.

“We should make a list,” I'd announced, “the pros and cons of boredom.”
“No,” Lisa said, “Let’s name fun things.”

“Fruity Pebbles popcorn,” I started.
“Girl panda makeup” Lisa offered,
“Foot massages and bubblegum”
“Cotton candy and sunflowers”
“Holidays and sparkly things!”
- we went on and on and on and -
“kittens” I updogged dreamily, before I switched the subject completely.

“We need to go to Paris!” I pronounced, excitedly.
“Oh yeah?” Lisa asked, with a little side head-bob.
“Actionable intel,” I whispered, “Grandmère wants to see me.”
Lisa gasped, adding, “You’re in TROUBLE,” drawing the last syllable out slowly.
“That would be a first,” I laughed.

“Kisses!” She exclaimed, resuming the game.
I remembered the first time I thought of kissing Peter. The thought was a flash, an emotional Rorschach test and I smiled. It was like a movie kiss, an abstract heaven - not the breathy, ****** kisses of real life.
“Where’d you go?” Lisa asked, grinning.
Some emotions are too thick for words.
.
.
Songs for this:
Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan
Disco Boots by Gavin Turek
BLT Merriam Webster word of the day challenge: Eclectic: something with a unique and inviting atmosphere.
“Eclectic” is actually a popular style category for coffee shops.

sadfishing - exaggerating an emotional state to generate sympathy
Aslam M Jul 2024
Millions of thoughts, an empty mind,
Searching for purpose, losing time.
Passion gone, interest fades,
Business struggles, debts cascade.

Stuck in a rut, years go by,
Losses grow, dreams seem to die.
Trapped in debt, feeling alone,
No one to talk to, all on your own.

Nights are long, days are gray,
Hopes and dreams seem far away.
But deep inside, a spark remains,
A whisper calls through all the pain.

To rise above, break the mold,
A story of courage yet to be told.
Amid the dark, a light is found,
A chance to turn life back around.

With each step, a new chance grows,
In the garden of tomorrow, hope still sows.
Though the path is rough and steep,
It's dreams pursued that hearts shall keep.

So stand tall, embrace the fight,
For in the darkest hour, stars shine bright.
Though life is hard and challenges steep,
It's in the journey that dreams we keep.
  Jul 2024 Aslam M
Sarita Aditya Verma
Lost your time
Paid a price
Lose your inhibitions
Live your life
It is free
Aslam M Jul 2024
As empty as I am now,
Nothing exists but me.
No dreams, no purpose found,
Just wandering aimlessly.

How can emptiness be so vast,
A chasm deep and wide?
Can't even feel this void,
As if it tries to hide.

Body and soul entwined,
A shadow and a ghost.
Waiting for a whisper,
From something once known most.

In the stillness of the night,
A riddle yet untold.
Seeking hidden answers,
To make this heart a home.
Aslam M May 2024
Peace, love's gentle calm
Soothes the soul's darkest night's pain
Healing hearts entwine
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