Sugar Coat
By Fadwa Sadek
Tell me who I am and I’ll believe you
Pick and choose your words for my desperation seeps
Lace your words with lies and give me any clue
Be careful where you step, my demon is dark and it creeps
Tell me I’m a flower that wilts and blooms everyday
Tell me I’m a train wreck that takes people’s lives away
Tell me I’m poison you wish to taste but you have fears
Tell me I’m an ocean that breathes to swallow all your tears
Do they sell identity at the local supermarket?
I have all this filthy cash from the bounty on my time
I lost the tag that had my name, can you help me find it?
I’m told crawling into skin that is not yours is a crime
I am a vacant vessel fill me up as you please
The uncertainty I hold is far too much to complain
Stick me in the sand or up against those gloomy trees
I will not scratch a hand nor rust, I will not even stain
Feed me some meaning with liquid purpose on the side
A deficiency demands you give me what I know is mine
The heart’s hunger, so brutal, always stays unsatisfied
But with a head so anorexic how to keep them both in line?
When I fight my way out will you pat me on the back?
Give me your best “good job” and the affection that I lack
Will you take all the credit and leave me with just scrap?
Will no one ever know how it was you who set that trap?
Do you still tell yourself you did the right thing
When you pressed that bird too hard till it could no longer sing?
Yet still you claim to love it, that it was for the best
But I know you just liked your voice better than the rest.
Photo credit: Matt Fortune
Real Colours
By Fadwa Sadek
The canvas of her mind
bright white and clean
before an artist with his brushes
crept in unseen
Planting a few strokes
got her flustered and confused
he gave a look full of pride
but all she felt was abused
As the colours sank in
she was more stained than painted
drowned in his vision of art
that said “With thy demons get acquainted”
The lines went deeper
her fight was resolute
but his method was pure poison
that only meant to pollute
He forced her soul to seem alive
but numb she was to the core
for her freedom she must strive
with a heart beaten and sore
Mistaking his work for her demise
he let out a deafening sigh
looking through those manic eyes
she deadly cringed but realized;
Why must I give in
when I can choose to realign?
You’ve had a few battles
but this war is all mine
Losing his grip on the palette
for he’s no longer dominant
pushing through the cloth she screams
“I am your mighty revenant”
I will not stand your defilement
I will no longer beg and plead
to break me out of your confinement
I am my own masterpiece.