20 May 2024

Longing

Longing is a 2 am song with
Unclear lyrics, hailing like nails
On your skin to stop you from
Having an eyeful of sleep.

Longing is a ship wanting to
Leave the shore but the anchor
Is on an undeclared holiday,
And there's an embargo now.

It's a feather traveling from
The lands far away to rest
On your chest to eat the light
In your room, with its heaviness.

It's a hammer confined within
Cement walls, trying to break out-
The desperation sinking an
Inch deep after each thump.

Longing is a bottle with an
Age-old letter sent to a bird that
Never responds, and on the other
End, another waiting forever-

For the letter that never comes.
The sea-waves try to take it
To the distal ends of the beach
But falls short each time and

Is forced to recede.
This un-fulfillment,
Tears shouting in your eyes,
Making the lashes just moist.

The wail that's supposed to
Come crashing down stays
There like a pretending cat.
Longing is the words that turn

Thick in your throat. The sighs,
Soaked in the dryness of mouth.
The blood that refuses to ooze,
Even when cold edges of

A Swiss knife hail on soft
Contours of your wrists.