Photo credit: Ajmal Cholakkal
Nocturnal Visitors
By Wanisha Rizwana
Ever had those nights,
those nights of a tired soul?
Your eyes begging you to close
to shut yourself for a few hours
to rejuvenate, to transform to a better self tomorrow
But there are those visitors
they visit you day and night
and when you turn them down
they riddle your mind for the rest of the night
And when your eyes begin to close,
these visitors never leave you alone.
They punch you right in your gut,
they slap you hard
till your cheeks turn red and your eyes swollen big.
These visitors, they never leave you alone.
The next day you see the person who was the cause,
the reason you were to meet those visitors at your previous dawn.
No regrets on his face, shining with a smile as bright as the sun;
a façade over the devious self
you didn’t imagine to exist behind.
Fast-forwarding the smile, the laughter, the genuine ones;
onto those targets,
there will be arrows tearing through their Ikhawu,
there will be visitors visiting them just like mine.
But closed ears
bewildered by those honey smoldered words,
the trap is set
like a moth towards the fire
like glass fallen on the floor
they shatter
into tiny shards
just like you did.
Oh these visitors
they will leave you.
Yes, most definitely leave you
when you’re a mess.
Usually superglue fixes all broken things
but, now no superglue
in the name of love or whatsoever can fix what these visitors did to you.
And you’ll wonder, what is left for you to live.
Photo credit: Maxim Lugina
Fleeting Affair of the Heart
By Wanisha Rizwana
The world is a small place
the scurrying people on the bustling streets
time passes as fast as the blowing wintery wind
whispering the failures we have been
The rattrap of life we’re caught in
its vicious cycle of the never-ending demands
too many to fulfill
ending the life we never lived
I may never meet you again
but those few minutes we’ve spent
those fleeting moments in our little bubble
filled with warmth and love
had only this fluttering heart flown away
with the memories etched on its tiny fraction of flesh.
I’d sleep my night away
without crawling into the corner
gazing at the night sky with its embedded stars
like the beads sewn perfectly on my favorite dress
finding little peace acknowledging that
at least, we’re under the same beautiful moonlit sky
Finally on one beautiful day,
I won’t be caged by this constricting feeling
with each breath uttering your name
with each eye searching for your face
I’ll breathe freely again
for all I can, I’ll not look at your changing profile picture
imagining myself with you in every moment
I’ll find courage before clicking the delete button
from my contact
and from my future
I’ll bury this book filled with love, hurt and longing
I’ll write a new book again