i
i build castles in the wind,
with bricks made of symbols of plastic lovers
ii
i take your sentences apart
and pronounce each word individually,
i let your words fall upon the ground,
then i pick them up again.
the sounds swim around the room,
and fall back into the palm of my hand.
i feel their soft edges and pointy corners.
i know their every colour and shade.
i let them sink into my center
to be absorbed into the floral veils
which flow within my streams.
i can see now why they say you are a liar.
iii
this incessant wind makes its way through my skin,
and caresses deep into my bones.
you are my enigmatic lover
with secrets which fly in this wind.
questions swim and linger asking what would have been
if you had chosen to stay and drink from my cup.
it is lonely beneath this sky with golden stars,
listening to your absence murmur the songs i miss,
indistinct music about unfinished conversations.
--Zaheda Ghani
